Monsters Like Us
by Nate Grey
Summary: Seeking redemption, Colossus and Magik accept a black op to eliminate enemies of the X-Men, both actual and imagined. He searches for a way to accept the detached young woman his sister has become, while she tries to help him embrace the monsters they can no longer help being.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: Much as I love Illyana, I have the worst luck finishing stories featuring her. I am extremely determined with this one, though. Mostly because it will only be two chapters long, and the second chapter is mostly done already. This is set after the Fear Itself arc, in which Colossus becomes the Juggernaut.

Disclaimer: All characters belongs to Marvel Comics. Well, except the nameless, unimportant ones. You'll know them when you see them, for as long as they last.

Summary: Seeking redemption, Colossus and Magik accept a black op to eliminate enemies of the X-Men, both actual and imagined. He searches for a way to accept the detached young woman his sister has become, while she tries to help him embrace the monsters they can no longer help being.

* * *

**Monsters Like Us**

**An X-Men Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 1: Greater Evil for the Lesser Good**

* * *

There was complete silence for a long moment.

The prisoner, a teenaged girl with piercing blue eyes and long, golden hair, simply stared at her two visitors, considering the offer.

"So what you're saying," Illyana Rasputin said slowly, "is that if we do this, several things will happen. First, I will no longer be in any way confined. Second, you will never question our loyalty again. Third, we will be free to leave Utopia if we so desire."

In the visiting area outside of the cell, Scott Summers nodded. "Yes. All of the above. A clean slate." After a pause, he added, "I'll understand if you need some time to think about it."

Illyana said nothing right away. This was rather unlike her. Since Scott had confined her to a high security prison cell in X-Brig 2, 500 feet below the X-Men's island haven of Utopia, she had rarely failed to talk excessively to any of her frequent visitors. She never said anything they wanted to hear, but that was hardly her problem. This was different, however.

She already knew she was going to accept the offer that had been extended to her. There was only one thing bothering her.

"Brother," she said softly. "What are you thinking?"

"I am thinking you have already decided to do this, Snowflake." At Scott's side, Piotr Rasputin was staring at her, as he had been for the past few minutes. Though Illyana had betrayed the X-Men and put all of their lives on the line for the sake of her revenge, he was the only one that had forgiven her immediately and completely. He, better than anyone else, knew the horrors she had survived through, how hard she'd fought to regain every current piece of her tattered soul, and that she would never again be the innocent little girl that she once had been.

Illyana gave her brother a small smile. His insistence on using his childhood nickname for her was only one of the reasons she would always love him. "You know me so well. But I also know you." The smile faded quickly as she turned to Scott. "Is there any chance this offer might be altered to only apply to me?"

"Yes," Scott replied, surprisingly agreeable for once. As the uncontested leader of Utopia, his word was law. He didn't have to compromise, not when he could summon most of the island's population to his side at a moment's notice. "But realize if that were to happen, the results would only apply to you."

"I do not recall asking to be excluded," Piotr growled, his jaw tight.

"You didn't have to," Scott and Illyana said at the same time. Both blinked and looked at each other, startled.

"It's something to consider," Scott went on quickly. "And of course, you can both say no. There's that as well."

"But we've already established that I'm saying yes," Illyana reminded him. Her gaze went back to Piotr. "Brother. You don't have to come with me. I'll understand, and I won't love you any less. I never could, and you should know that by now. Whatever you do, don't say yes solely because you want to protect me, or because you don't want me to suffer. I don't think I could bear that."

"I'm saying yes," Piotr replied. "Not for you, or for us, but for me."

It wasn't an answer that the other two had expected.

"Why?" Illyana asked.

Piotr lifted a hand and flexed his fingers. "Honestly, Snowflake? As bloody as this mission will be, I feel I must accept it. Because if I don't, I fear I will soon do something far, far worse, and I will enjoy it immensely."

Scott nodded slowly. "Then let's talk specifics."

* * *

In the following week, the world arguably became an infinitely better place to live.

Several people, both human and mutant, simply vanished. In some cases there were suicide notes, or established travel plans to places abroad, but in many others, they had disappeared without a trace.

Reporters. Lawmakers. Lobbyists. Killers. Writers. Protestors.

They all had only one thing in common: they had, in some way, shape, or form, posed a threat to the X-Men on at least one occasion.

Even when this was noticed, there was still no proof. Anyone associated with the X-Men who potentially could have been involved were all present and accounted for during the disappearances, or so it appeared. Some people found this fact to be highly suspicious, but proof was proof. Even if it was expertly manufactured.

* * *

The demons of Limbo really were quite thorough. It was one of the reasons that Illyana still associated with them (other than the fact that many still considered her their absolute ruler, anyway). They could be depended upon to get things done.

It had not even been necessary for her to actually kill any of her victims personally. She still had, but it hadn't been necessary.

By the time her minions were done, there was no trace of the massacre that had just occurred on the killing ground. Several industrious demons had even licked up the blood.

Illyana was covered in the blood of the few that she had killed. She had known far cleaner ways to dispatch them, but hadn't preferred those methods, for some reason. Part of her felt that Cyclops either expected this, or wanted it. He had demanded proof of her actions, after all. He would be foolish not to.

It would be hard to argue with so much blood soaked into her clothing. He would have to accept that she'd certainly killed someone.

The killing hadn't really bothered her so much. She had only known a few of her victims personally, and she had despised them. Their families had been included, and she suspected some of those may have even been innocent. But it hadn't mattered. The innocents had died just as quickly as the guilty, so she saw no reason to dwell on that.

Instead, her thoughts were with her brother. Piotr had agreed readily enough, but she wondered if he could really do what he'd agreed to. The old Piotr would never have had the stomach for it. Then again, the old Piotr had not been the Juggernaut, the avatar of Cyttorak. While Illyana was not clear on the details, having never possessed the power herself, she was aware that her brother was now prone to unstoppable rages and a growing lust for violence. He found this somewhat distasteful, but he was unable to avoid it. The power simply overwhelmed his former reasoning in combat, and if an outlet was not provided soon enough, then Piotr would simply make one, as brutally as he possibly could. Really, it was not a question of if he could kill anymore, but if he could manage to stop himself once he began.

Illyana knew that feeling all too well. She always told Piotr that he was unlike her, but now, that was no longer true. He was exactly as she had been: in the sway of a demon, and unable to help himself. And he had taken on this burden to protect others, especially her. She owed it to him to see him through this time of torment. Already she had considered many solutions, but the methods she ultimately used would depend on Piotr, and if he wanted to be rid of Cyttorak's power, or if he wanted to be master of it.

* * *

The Crimson Cosmos had always been a breeding ground for destruction. Cyttorak was its god. Piotr was its newest prophet, and his offerings were the ruined lives all around him.

There had been women and children. Wives who knew nothing of the evil their husbands had committed. Children whose only sin was being born to the wrong set of parents.

None of that had made a difference.

In the end, Piotr found himself sitting among piles and piles of thoroughly smashed corpses, painted in their blood. It should have turned his stomach. A year ago, it would have.

But a year ago, he hadn't been the Juggernaut.

Even now, staring out at the bodies, he found himself appreciating the violence that had created such a gruesome canvas. The urge to destroy, for the moment, was satisfied. He felt this was due largely to presence of the demonic god Cyttorak. The giant, crimson, lizard-faced deity had not reacted at all as he watched the slaughter unfold. Despite this, Piotr sensed that Cyttorak had enjoyed the annihilation just as much, if not more, than he had. Near the deity he felt some semblance of control, if only for the moment.

Moments later, Illyana appeared from one of her portals. She barely even gave the dead bodies a first glance as she walked calmly to his side. Piotr wasn't sure if this was because the red, rocky landscape reminded her of Limbo, or if the bodies truly didn't bother her. But the next thing he knew, she was addressing Cyttorak.

"Great Cyttorak, has our offering been acceptable to you?" she asked.

"It has, mortal," Cyttorak replied in a pleased rumble. "Your sibling slaughters were magnificent. Return to your mortal realm with my favor firmly in hand."

Illyana bowed. "Great Cyttorak, we humbly accept your praise."

Piotr stared at her, amazed again by how calmly she could address such a being. She wasn't afraid. She almost seemed bored, really. As if this was nothing to her. That worried him more than he cared to admit.

Her hand came to rest on his arm abruptly. "Brother, what's wrong?"

He honestly could not remember the last time they'd touched. Illyana had been allowed no physical contact while imprisoned, and even before then, she had not really welcomed physical affection. He felt certain there was a time when she had, but that seemed a lifetime ago, and more importantly, another Illyana ago. She was so different now. Her voice was so often laced with superiority, or contempt, or boredom. It was difficult even for him to imagine her as the sweet little girl from his memories. But he had to. It was the only way he could continue to recognize her as his beloved sister and stand by her, no matter what.

"Brother?" she said again.

He wanted to tell her what he was thinking. But then his gaze landed on his arm, and on the bloody hand-print she'd left there. It broke something deep inside of him, and the sweet little girl he used to carry in his powerful arms slipped a little further away. "It's nothing, Snowflake," he whispered at last.

He could tell that she didn't believe him, but she apparently decided this wasn't the time to discuss it. Illyana created the portal without a word, and they stepped through together.

* * *

Cyclops had given them an entire week to complete the mission. It only took three days.

Neither Illyana nor Piotr had thought that far ahead. They could not simply return early: while Illyana's restraints had been deactivated entirely for the mission, the same wards that had kept her from simply leaving Utopia would likely fry her brain if she tried to return too soon or too late. Cyclops had given them a specific window of ten hours in which to return on the last day, and it was still a long way off.

Though they had no extra clothing with them, Illyana refused to sit in bloodstained prison clothes for an additional four days. What she did have, apparently, was access to a pocket dimension where she stored a few extra outfits. Oddly enough, she also had some clothing for Piotr. He did not feel comfortable questioning why that was, but his curiosity was obvious, and she indulged him.

"I thought about escaping a few times," she admitted. "Even planned for it. Of course, you would have come with me."

She said nothing more on the matter, and she didn't need to.

There was still another problem: Cyclops had stressed that they not be seen. At first, Illyana took them to one abandoned warehouse after another every couple of hours, but this quickly became boring to her. They ended up in the Canadian Yukon, surround by nothing but snow.

They passed the time by talking about their lives, what little they could remember before having joined the X-Men. For a little while, at least, it was nice to pretend that things hadn't changed so drastically. Illyana eventually feel asleep with her head on her brother's arm, and Piotr, ever viligant, watched over her as she slept. He thought it odd that there was no trace of the need to destroy that was so often present in his mind now. Whether it was due to Illyana's presence, or there being very little present to destroy, he couldn't say for certain. She was beautiful still. Tormented, and often heartless, to be certain, but still beautiful. Although considering the recent changes in what he considered beautiful, he was most probably only appreciating her ability to destroy.

It terrified him, to think like that. But he could live with it. He would live with it, so long as she needed him to.

* * *

"What if they don't come back?" Danger asked for the third time as they stood before Illyana's former cell. She did not sound worried, exactly, but as the former Danger Room given life, and the current warden of Utopia, she would have been well within her rights.

"They will," Cyclops said simply. "They're smart."

It had been terribly simple to keep people from visiting Illyana's cell for a week. Even the few that did visit her consistently found the task draining, so being told that she and Piotr would be enduring a week of interrogation was almost a welcome excuse. Some had wanted more details, but Cyclops denied them, only saying that Illyana could talk to them after he was done with her. Which at least implied that she would still be alive. Which was enough, in most cases.

He had kept the mission on a need-to-know basis. Currently, there were only three people in all of Utopia who knew of it, including himself and Danger. It would never go any farther than that if he could help it.

Roughly three hours after he had Danger relax the wards around the cell, Illyana and Piotr returned in a portal of light.

"I told you they were smart," Cyclops said. It was then that he got a good look at them. Their clothes were covered in blood, and while the siblings looked more than a little weary, neither one seemed too disturbed. He momentarily wondered if this had all been a huge mistake. Then he reminded himself what they had done to warrant him putting them in that position, and any personal guilt was quickly pushed aside. "I take it the mission was a success."

Illyana nodded. "We have proof, as you requested. Are the wards still active? Only I didn't want to be carrying it around the whole time."

He nodded. "I had Danger deactivate all the wards. Go ahead."

Illyana vanished into a portal, returning a moment later with a heavy duty trash bag. All things considered, it was rather symbolic. She handed over the bag.

Cyclops reached in and pulled out the first thing he touched. It was a human head. One of many, if he was correct. He held it for a moment, testing the weight in his hand, and then returned the head to the bag. "I'll have Danger test these against the DNA samples we have on file, but pending that, I think I can tentatively consider this a job well done. Thank you."

"It was my pleasure," Illyana replied, though it was hard to tell if she was joking or being perfectly serious.

Cyclops handed the trash bag to Danger. "With that out of the way, I wonder if you'd consent to an optional debriefing. It will have no bearing on the successful completion of your mission. You are free to refuse."

"You want the details?" Illyana asked, a little surprised.

"Not me," Cyclops replied as Danger left with the trash bag, only for Hope Summers to enter the room. "Her."

Illyana and Piotr traded confused looks. Cyclops knew what they were thinking. This was Hope, the golden girl, the guiding light for the next generation. She had killed, of course, but not in the manner that they just had. She wasn't tainted like they were. It made no sense that Cyclops would allow her to have anything to do with them. They couldn't see the big picture. That was why Cyclops was in charge, and why they were following his orders.

"It's pretty simple," Cyclops explained. "Between the two of you, you just killed a number of people that have threatened the X-Men in the past, and could have threatened them again. You really only need to answer one question."

"I want to know," Hope said. "No, I need to know, how you can do that and still be you. How you can do it and still plan to live out the rest of your lives without falling apart every time you think about it." She paused. "I need to know because one day, I may have to do the same thing, and I want to know how you handle it."

Illyana stared at Hope in disbelief, but said nothing.

"You don't have to do this, Snowflake," Piotr whispered. "I can-"

"No. I'll do it." She offered him a smile that chilled him to his very soul, and then turned back to their visitor. "Let's talk, Hope."

Cyclops stepped out into the corridor, and though he had no idea how long the debriefing would take, chose to wait there.

Seven minutes later, Illyana and Piotr emerged, each giving him a respectful nod before walking past him. Hope stepped out a moment later, her eyes lingering on the retreating siblings.

"So? How was it?" Cyclops asked.

"They definitely answered my question," Hope replied. "And I'm positive the DNA samples will match up."

"You trust them, then?"

Hope hesitated, realizing she was being tested. "Not exactly. But I trust that Illyana wouldn't go out and decapitate an entirely different group of people, just to trick us and avoid killing enemies that were a threat to her, too. She doesn't resent us that much, or she doesn't seem to. And even if she did, Peter wouldn't have helped her do it."

"But he would help her lie about it. Or she might not have told him the truth."

"It sounds like you want to believe the worst of them," Hope observed.

"Part of me does," Cyclops admitted. "We actually do need people like that. The trouble is getting them and everyone else to accept that inconvenient little truth."

Hope nodded, though she was really thinking about Illyana's final words to her.

"It's really very simple, Hope. There are billions of people in the world at any one time. Odds are, you'll never even see a third of them. When you think about it, killing several, a dozen, or even a hundred, is hardly a drop in the bucket. I'm sure you've gotten the same speech I have a hundred times, about how the X-Men are here to be bridge between humans and mutants. There's nothing wrong with that dream. But it is a dream, and the reality is that the only people you'll ever have to deal with are the few that will enter the little sphere that is your part of the world. So in the end, you must ask yourself, what's more important? Protecting the lives of people you'll never even know for sure that you saved, or protecting those few precious friends and relatives within your little sphere? That's how I can kill people who may or may not have been innocent. Their existence threatened my people, and their hatred dirtied my sphere. And I've had enough impurities in my sphere to last me three lifetimes."

* * *

Samuel Guthrie was used to getting visitors. Though he had asked to be kept in the secure ward of Utopia's infirmary, between his time as an X-Man, as well as field leader of both the New Mutants and X-Force, he made many friends, and a great deal of them now lived on the island. But when he woke up early one morning to find himself with two visitors, one of whom was supposed to be locked in a cell, he was shocked.

"Illyana? Peter? What are you two doing here?" he asked, more surprised than concerned.

"Don't worry, Sam," Illyana replied as she sat down in the chair next to his bed. "Cyclops gave us a chance to make things right, and we decided to make the most of it. We just stopped by to say goodbye, at least for the time being."

"You're leaving Utopia?" Sam asked sharply, instantly sitting up and swinging his legs out of the bed.

Illyana smirked. "Did you imagine I wanted to stay, the way most of our friends have been reacting to me lately? I may want to make amends, but I can think of plenty of places where I can at least stretch my legs while I get spit on."

Sam winced. "Listen, Illyana. I know I said I didn't appreciate what you did, and I still don't. I can even understand why your revenge was so important to you. I just wish you had trusted us to help you with it, rather than using us like pawns. But if you took that to mean that we weren't friends anymore, I didn't mean it that way, and I'm sorry. I know I failed you so many times in the past, and if that's why you couldn't believe in us, I'm sorry for that, too."

Illyana smiled sadly and reached out to gently pat his cheek. "Oh, Sam. Are you really trying to blame yourself for the terrible things that happened to me? I'd laugh in your face if I didn't think you'd take it the wrong way."

He stared at her, not understanding. "What do you mean, girl?"

"I mean that if I actually blamed you for even one of the terrible things that happened to me, I would hate you, kill you in the most painful way possible, and never forgive you. So why don't we just agree to be happy that I don't blame you for any of it? I accept that you're still my friend, and I agree to continue treating you as such. I came to visit you, didn't I?"

"I'm guessing you won't be visiting any of the others, then?"

"Most of them have made their feelings clear. You're the only one I felt compelled to notify personally. If Cyclops wishes to inform everyone that we've left, that's his call. Besides, anyone who tries to visit me once I'm gone should find out rather quickly that I'm no longer here, and I expect the word will spread from that."

After a brief pause, Sam murmured, "Are you ever coming back?"

"I honestly don't know," Illyana admitted. "If I can arrange to work from anywhere but Utopia, I probably will. But I'll be sure to call either you or Dani every few months, just so you know I'm still getting into trouble somewhere."

Sam bit his lip and looked away. "You probably don't want to hear this, but I feel like I need to say it."

"Go ahead, Sam."

"I miss the old you. The one who used to laugh and smile and hurt with the rest of us. I miss you being one of us, and I hate the way everyone around here looks at you now. Mostly, I wish you'd been allowed to grow up the normal way, with a big family and plenty of love. Maybe it wouldn't have changed much of anything, but I still wish you had it to look back on."

"Sometimes, I think you could never possibly relate to me. Then there are times like this, when I think you could teach even Peter a thing or two about being a devoted big brother." Illyana gently grasped his face and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Thank you, Sam. If I had been allowed to grow up that way, I'd want to have done so in your family."

Sam looked at Piotr. "If you were anyone else, I'd make you promise to take care of her. But since it's you, I know I don't have to. Instead, I'll just say this: let her take care of you sometimes. I think it might be good for you both."

Piotr simply nodded and briefly shook Sam's hand. Though Sam could sense no malice in the gesture, Piotr's grip was one of the strongest he'd ever encountered, and it immediately reminded Sam that Illyana wasn't the only one who had been through some major changes. The two Russian siblings left without another word. Sam wondered how long he should wait to inform Dani, who was technically his girlfriend and would be extremely annoyed if she found out from anyone else, especially if she discovered he'd known and hadn't said anything. Still, he felt he owed Illyana at least a little time to put some distance between herself and the island. An hour then, perhaps an hour and a half. That would be plenty of time if they were traveling by portal, and at least a decent headstart if they were not.

* * *

Kitty Pryde had not been in a good mood lately. Her life just seemed to be one disaster after another.

First, her former best friend Illyana had endangered the lives of the X-Men, all for her own selfish revenge. Then, despite agreeing to be confined, Illyana had refused to apologize for it, alienating pretty much everyone in the process. Kitty had repeatedly tried to talk some sense into her, but Illyana resented the implication that she wasn't acting or thinking sensibly, and had more or less told Kitty that they were no longer friends until she apologized for the slight.

That had been the last straw. If Illyana didn't feel the need to apologize for nearly killing their friends and endangering all of reality needlessly, Kitty refused to apologize for calling her a nutcase. Really, she wasn't the only one who felt that way, but was perhaps the only one brave enough to say so to Illyana's face.

The tension between them had only gotten worse when Kitty chose to end her relationship with Piotr. That, too, was simply beyond her power to tolerate: Piotr had become the Juggernaut. Yes, he'd done it to save Illyana and countless others, but Kitty could not have a boyfriend that was the Juggernaut. It had never really been a rule of hers, but it was certainly one now. Piotr claimed he understood. He wasn't happy, but he understood.

Illyana, predictably, had not.

In the past few weeks, Kitty had been finding... things in her bedroom. Often they smelled horrible, had no obvious earthly origin, and permanently stained any inorganic material they came into contact with. And since the X-Men did not have access to a Limbo dry cleaner, and Doctor Strange had stopped taking her calls out of frustration (as he had reasonably pointed out, he was not a Limbo dry cleaner, either), Kitty had been forced to part with some of her favorite outfits. She hadn't visited Illyana's cell since.

On this day, Kitty found an envelope taped to her bedroom door. She recognized the handwriting at once, and immediately tore it open, only to be extremely disappointed (not to mention furious).

It read, quite simply: "Dear Katya, if you ever manage to grow up, give me a call. Love, Illyana."

Below that, in smaller script: "Please note that I have failed to include any contact information. I don't expect it would ever be necessary."

"That little...!" Kitty spat, scowling darkly as she stomped off to find Scott Summers. She couldn't say why, exactly, but somehow she felt this was at least partially his fault.

* * *

**Concluded in Chapter 2: Dark Comfort**

Alone and without direction, Piotr and Illyana slowly get to know each other again. An unexpected visit from Wolverine and a greatly changed Jubilee puts things in perspective, and not in a way that either of the siblings expected.


	2. Dark Comfort

Notes: Sigh. It's trying to become a series. Help me, guys!

* * *

**Monsters Like Us**

**An X-Men Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 2: Dark Comfort**

* * *

There had been a small boy, surely no older than ten, among them. His mother had clutched him and screamed in terror as Colossus moved toward them, coated in blood and roaring in mindless (or perhaps just single-minded) blood lust.

"It's okay, Mama," the boy had said, with no idea he was speaking his last words. "He won't hurt us. I saw him on the television. He's a superhero, and they only hurt the bad guys."

The boy's father had been a major financial contributor to Project: Wideawake, which had produced several generations of Sentinels, the mutant-hunting robots that were still a major threat to all humans, mutant or otherwise. There had been no concrete evidence that the boy or his mother were in any way intending to follow suit. But their guilt or innocence had not mattered at all: while Colossus was empowered by the malevolent energies of Cyttorak, they had been little more than targets. Most of the killing had been lost behind a hazy, crimson blur in his memory, but for some reason the trusting look in the boy's eyes had stayed with him.

* * *

"Brother, wake up," Illyana murmured in his ear.

Piotr slowly opened his eyes, and for a moment had no idea where he was. He remembered that Illyana had taken them through one portal after another, trying to throw off anyone who might be attempting to track them. They had stopped at a hotel because of the lunch special, and while he recalled insisting that they stay when Illyana had begun to yawn, nothing else sprang to his mind.

Apparently they had stayed, because Piotr was lying in one of two beds in a hotel room, with Illyana leaning over him.

"You were having a bad dream," she told him, gently mopping his sweaty forehead with a cool, damp towel.

"It wasn't a dream," he replied at once.

"Bad memories, then," she corrected, with the tone of one who knew she was right. "I thought I should wake you. Was I wrong?"

"No, Snowflake, you were not. Thank you."

She tried to smile for him, but it didn't quite reach her eyes, which bothered him. "You haven't asked where we are yet."

"We are together, and you are free. I don't suppose much else matters." His gaze landed on the clock on the nightstand, which read 11:48 PM. "I've been asleep since lunch?"

"You didn't seem tired, but you said you wanted to sleep." Illyana picked up a pitcher on the nightstand and filled a small glass with ice water. Piotr thought she was thirsty, and was surprised when she pressed the glass into his hand. "Drink," she said in no-nonsense tone.

"I am not thirsty, Snowflake."

"Brother, I know you don't need water, food, or oxygen in your armored form, and especially now that you're the Juggernaut. But I also don't think it's a good idea to start relying on the benefits of that power if you don't have to. Unless you want to end up a slave to it the way Cain Marko was, I suggest you drink."

Piotr drank.

Illyana took the glass when he was done, refilled it, and started to hand it back to him. Instead, she changed her mind, took a few sips herself, and then gave him the glass. "I should probably take my own advice," she admitted.

"Would you really have accepted Cyttorak's offer?" he asked abruptly after draining the glass again. "Would you really have become the Juggernaut?"

"Yes," she answered simply. "I don't think I would have enjoyed it, but I could have handled it. I'd say I've handled far worse."

"You're supposed to let me protect you, Snowflake," Piotr whispered. "Why won't you let me?"

"Because I don't like seeing you suffer, any more than you like seeing me suffer. So if I can protect you, I will. That's what it means to be family."

"You've been through enough."

She smirked. "And when has life ever stopped giving me challenges, just because I've had enough? It doesn't work that way for anyone I know, and especially not us."

"I have more power now than I've ever dreamed I would. Are you saying you won't let me use it to protect you?"

"No. I'm saying that you had better get used to me protecting you as well. If you didn't want me to feel that way, maybe you shouldn't have been such a good big brother all these years."

He stared at her incredulously. "Did you actually just say that?"

She patted his arm. "Yes, but I'm obviously teasing you. I do still joke sometimes. I know it can be hard to tell when I am, though."

Piotr blinked, watching as Illyana sat on her own bed and stretched out. "Are you tired, Snowflake?" he asked.

"Just thinking," she replied softly, staring at the ceiling.

He hesitated over his next words, and then decided to express them, anyway. "I love you, Illyana. I know I don't say it often-"

"Brother," she interrupted impatiently. "You are perhaps the only person I have ever met who tells me they love me through practically every action you take, and every word you speak. Even if you never said it again, I would always know. And I will always love you in return."

"Does that mean you wish me to stop saying it?"

"No," she admitted after a pause. "Only that you shouldn't feel you must out of necessity, or a fear that you haven't said it enough. Trust me, you have and you always will. I would just ask you, if I ever had any doubt. But I'm sure I won't."

It did his heart good to hear her unshakable confidence in him, and Piotr felt less like a monster because of it. For the moment, anyway.

* * *

Two hours later, there was a series of hard knocks at the door.

Piotr and Illyana glanced at each other. Neither had been sleeping, but knew most other hotel guests would be, and that room service had long since ended. This had to be something else, and not necessarily a good something else. Piotr had just stood up when a familiar voice growled, "Open up, Pete. I ruined plenty o' doors in my time, and I'll be happy to do it again."

"Logan?" Piotr murmured. He glanced back at Illyana, who nodded her consent, and then he opened the door.

Logan was indeed standing in the hallway, wearing a checkered flannel shirt and blue jeans, but he wasn't alone. There was a blur of movement, and suddenly Piotr had the weight of a person around his neck. It was a relatively small person, and even a full-sized person wouldn't have strained him much, but he was still rather surprised.

"Hiya, Petey!" The smiling, young Chinese woman hanging onto his neck gave him a big squeeze. "I missed ya, big guy!"

"J-Jubilee?" Piotr asked in shock, wrapping his arms around her automatically. It wasn't really necessary, as she had a surprisingly firm grip on him and clearly was in no hurry to let go.

She grinned and darted her head forward, obviously meaning to kiss him on the cheek, but suddenly froze as Logan cleared his throat. Shooting him a guilty look, she immediately released Piotr and dropped back to the ground. "Sorry," she muttered, hanging her head. "I wasn't thinking."

Piotr blinked, and it wasn't until he put together Jubilee's abnormal strength, paler than normal skin, and the interrupted kiss that he remembered what the issue was: Jubilee had recently been turned into a vampire, and from the looks of it, she was still adjusting to all the changes that had to come along with that. "There is nothing to apologize for, Jubilee," he assured her. To prove this, he placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head, the easiest part of her to reach.

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

"If you had meant to attack me, I'm quite sure we would all know. My new-found... abilities come with some impressive defenses. At best, you might have chipped a fang."

Greatly relieved, Jubilee gave him another hug, then shoved her way past him. "Hey, 'Yana!" she shouted, in complete disregard for anyone else on the floor who might be sleeping. "Get out of that bed and give me a hug!"

Piotr frowned at Logan as he walked into the hotel room. "She wasn't going to attack me."

"She didn't plan to, anyway," Logan agreed, shutting the door behind him. "But you ain't been around her lately, the way I have. She's changed. Ain't her fault, but she has, and she's got to be careful. It's easy to forget what she is while she's with friends, but she can't afford to. Everyone don't have a healing factor, and even the few that do probably couldn't fight off all the effects of a vampire bite."

He wanted to believe that Logan was wrong, but Piotr could not help glancing over his shoulder. Jubilee had pulled Illyana out of bed and was hugging her happily. Illyana was tolerating this rather well, for the moment.

"How did you two even find us?" Piotr asked.

"Funny story, actually," Logan said, grabbing Jubilee by the back of her raincoat and pulling her off of Illyana with some effort. "I'll let the kid tell it." He paused and looked at Illyana. "Hey, darlin'. How's life treatin' ya?" He reached out and lightly brushed her cheek with his thumb.

She smiled warmly at him. "Better now, Logan. Although, if you can explain to me how you were an X-Man for so long without killing all of them, that would be a big help."

While this was clearly a joke, no one even smiled.

"You know about the mission," Piotr said abruptly.

"There's a mission?" Jubile asked, her eyebrows raising. "Where? When?"

"They don't know, Peter," Illyana disagreed. "That isn't why they're here. Is it, Logan?"

Logan didn't speak right away, and Piotr was reminded of the odd connection that existed between the Canadian mutant and his sister. After Magneto had ripped the adamantium from Logan's body, the man had been on the brink of death, with his healing factor working overtime but ultimately unable to keep up with all the damage suffered. Logan claimed to have seen Illyana's spirit while he was hovering between life and death. According to him, Illyana, who had succumbed to the Legacy Virus mere days before, had forced him to keep living, rather than allowing him to die. Illyana never confirmed this claim, although from then onward, she certainly acted as if it had happened.

"Time to tell 'em, Jubes," Logan said simply. "They're gettin' antsy. We should all sit for this."

Piotr sat on his bed, and was a little surprised when Jubilee did the same, since there was plenty of room on Illyana's bed. Logan simply stretched out on the floor. For some reason, Piotr immediately assumed that position would be more comfortable for someone who was used to being hunched over as he stalked prey, or perhaps just being weighed down by an adamantium-bonded skeleton.

"We tracked you by scent," Jubilee explained. "I made Wolvie take me shopping, and suddenly I picked up this really neat smell."

"You did?" Piotr asked before he could stop himself. "Not Logan?"

Jubilee blushed. "Yeah. So? You think vampires have bad noses?"

"No, but have you ever smelled anything before Logan did?"

"Um... no, guess not. But I was never a vampire before, either. Anyway! I followed the scent to this hotel."

"...was it blood?" Piotr asked hesitantly.

Jubilee gave him a funny look. "You'd think so, right? But no. I totally know how blood smells, and this was something else entirely."

"You're probably smelling demon," Illyana stated calmly.

Jubilee stared at her, clearly stumped. "Why would either of you smell like demon?"

Illyana rolled her eyes. "I am a former ruler of Limbo, an alternate dimension practically filled with demons, and my brother is the current avatar of Cyttorak,

who is essentially a giant red demon. If we didn't smell like demon, I can't imagine who else would."

"Oh." Jubilee glanced at Logan. "You could have told me!"

"And you could have brushed up on Illyana's history any number of times before now," he shot back. "Stuff's been on file for years."

"But that's practically spying! We only do that for bad guys, not our friends!"

Piotr cleared his throat. "Actually, Jubilee, I've had to do that a number of times with other comrades. There have been many X-Men over the years, and aside from that, it's good to learn what everyone's sore spots are."

"Oh yeah? And what are my sore spots?"

"I know not to mention Tabitha in your presence."

Jubilee snorted. "Yeah, well, that's just good taste on your part." She glanced at Illyana, frowning a bit. "So, you guys... how did get used to it? I mean, demonic power seems like a pretty big deal from where I'm sitting."

"In my case, there really wasn't much choice," Illyana replied. "I either had to adjust, or spend the rest of my life trapped in another dimension as a slave. My brother's circumstances are thankfully more manageable, but I imagine it will be some time before he can fully accept things as they are."

Piotr shook his head. "And what is it you think I'll be able to eventually accept, Snowflake?" he murmured. "Being a demonic avatar? Having the destructive thoughts that now constantly roam through my mind seem natural? The idea that Katya will never be able to love me as I am? Or that in my efforts to protect you, I have simultaneously managed to curse myself and widen the rift that exists between us and our friends?"

"All of it," she answered at once. "Brother, do you regret protecting me?"

"Of course not. I could never."

"Then as far as I'm concerned, there is nothing to be ashamed of. So you are empowered by a demonic entity now. I suspect it will only bring us closer. You have no idea how much I can teach you now. You may see yourself as being cursed with this power, but I can teach you how to make it your own, and more importantly, how to use it in ways that benefit mankind while still pleasing Cyttorak."

"And if I don't want this power? What then?"

Illyana smiled sadly. "Then I can show you how to give it up. But I don't think you will."

"Why not?"

"Because since Cyttorak originally offered the power to me, I imagine he would do so again. And even if he did not, I would still offer to take it. Brother, you forget that the entire reason we convinced Cyttorak to strip Cain Marko of the power was so that we could ensure it would be kept in responsible hands. If you cannot bear it, then I must."

Piotr stared at his sister, and for the first time, he wondered. Kitty had told him repeatedly that the person who had returned to them after so long was not his sister, that she simply could not be the Illyana Rasputin that they had known and loved. Yes, Illyana had always been impulsive and stubborn, and she had constantly wrestled with her dark side. But the young woman who had returned to them was clever, clearly comfortable with what she was, and though he now hated to admit it, extremely manipulative. He now realized that she had trapped him in an impossible situation. If he gave up the mantle of the Juggernaut, she would take it up.

And that would destroy him.

It would mean that he had failed to protect her. It would mean that his sacrifice had been meaningless. More importantly, it would mean he had lost Kitty for nothing.

He desperately wanted to believe that his beloved Snowflake would never have forced so cruel a choice upon him. But as he looked into her eyes, Piotr was forced to accept that she had. Just as he was forced to accept that despite all of that, still he loved her, and still he would die for her if called upon to do so.

She could see in his eyes that he knew, just as he could see in hers that she was genuinely sorry for what she had done to him. But he would never ask her to apologize, and she would never offer. At least, that was what he believed.

But when she stood up, walked over to him, gently took his face in her hands, and kissed his forehead, Piotr knew it was the only apology he would ever get, as well as the only one he'd ever really need.

Piotr could remember a time when Jubilee would have found such a scene to be gross, or at least far too mushy for her tastes. But he was surprised to notice that instead of looking disgusted, she just looked very sad as she watched them. "Jubilee? What is wrong?"

Jubilee shook her head, wiping away what looked suspiciously like a tear from her eye. "If I still had my powers, I'd sneak back into Utopia just so I could paf Pryde but good. She didn't deserve either of you."

While he didn't really like anyone badmouthing Kitty, Piotr could sense that Jubilee genuinely resented Kitty on their behalf, and it was difficult not to appreciate that. He reached over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her against him. Jubilee responded in kind, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. He expected Logan to object, but was glad to be disappointed there. Perhaps such comfort had been in short supply, now that Jubilee was a vampire.

Piotr never questioned that there was love between Logan and Jubilee, almost as if they were father and daughter. Logan had never been big on hugging, but he tolerated it from those close to him, which included long-time comrades, and especially all of his "adopted" daughters, including Jubilee and Kitty. However, Kitty had long since outgrown the days where she saw Logan as a mentor, and now demanded to be treated as an equal. As far as Piotr knew, Logan went along with this, but he suspected they all knew that deep down, Logan would consider Kitty one of his daughters until the day he died, if he ever did. Jubilee had grown in another direction: while she was clearly more mature, if only slightly, she did not seem to mind Logan treating her like one of his kids (which was, Piotr realized, still very far from treating her like a kid). If anything, Jubilee seemed to cherish the role of tagging along with Logan, and had been known to start fights with anyone who tried to fill her shoes.

This, at least, Piotr could fully appreciate: many former comrades had turned against Jubilee when she had become a vampire, calling for her destruction as a dangerous, evil entity. Though he understood their fear, Piotr had not agreed with it. Seeing Jubilee as evil would necessitate seeing Illyana the same way, as she had been consumed by darkness for far longer, not to mention far more frequently. He was not surprised at all that Logan's feelings for Jubilee remained largely unchanged. Logan was wary of her on some level, of course, because Jubilee was still in the process of learning what she could and couldn't do without being overtaken by blood lust. Certainly, it helped that Logan was one of the few people that could force her to calm down, and could part with blood on a regular basis if needed. More than likely that was why Jubilee was so much like her old self even now: a consistent blood supply, without her having to hunt for it. Such a simple solution to such a complicated problem.

There was nothing like that for him, and even if there was, he would refuse it to keep his sister... well, less cursed than she currently was, anyway.

* * *

It was always good to see Logan. He did not condemn people for the darkness in their souls. And really, how could he? The little he could remember of his own past was stained black with blood. It was why a large part of Illyana had always liked him. It didn't matter to Logan how far she had fallen, or what paths she had chosen. He would forever be convinced that he had done far worse, and was willing to forgive her solely because he still saw her as a child who was entitled to make mistakes, no matter how huge.

Jubilee was another matter. It wasn't so much that Illyana didn't like her, as it was that she did not consider them particularly close. Jubilee had always been more of a friend of a friend via Kitty, and even then a mostly reluctant one, as Jubilee and Kitty only seemed to get along sporadically. The visit itself wasn't so odd, though the timing was far too convenient for Illyana's liking. Logan was not typically one to be at the beck and call of Cyclops, but he would fall in line if he felt there was a good reason. But was the reason Illyana, her brother, or both of them? She doubted the visit had been Jubilee's idea, although the story about tracking their scent sounded too awkward to be anything but genuine, coming from Jubilee. It was time for some answers, and Illyana knew better than to try to get them from Logan, especially when there was a far more convenient source present.

"I need to use the bathroom," Illyana announced, rising from her bed. After a brief pause, she added, "Jubilee, come with me."

To her credit, though Jubilee initially looked dumbfounded, she recovered almost instantly. "Yeah, okay," she replied, standing as well.

"You both need to go?" Piotr asked doubtfully.

Jubilee made a show of rolling her eyes as she followed Illyana into the bathroom. Illyana indicated that Jubilee should close the door behind them, which she did, but not before they heard Logan grunt from the floor, "You ain't figured out yet that girls travel in packs, especially when it comes to powderin' their noses?"

"Petey's not really that clueless, is he?" Jubilee murmured, leaning against the wall and drumming her fingers on the edge of the sink.

"He is my brother," Illyana sighed. "He will always believe that some small part of me is innocent, and part of him will always be as well. I think I prefer it that way."

"But that isn't why you asked me in here."

"No. Just as you and Logan aren't here for a social visit, are you?"

Jubilee frowned. "You seem pretty sure of that."

Illyana gave her a flat look. "I wouldn't exactly call us best friends, Jubilee."

"Neither would I. But then, I'm not so sure you even have one at all right now. Or did I just imagine that whiny phone call from Pryde today about how you're officially evil incarnate? Nice job, by the way. I never would have thought of extra-dimensional stains for a prank."

Illyana smirked. "Thanks. Again, why are you two here?"

For a moment, Jubilee looked as if she might try to avoid the question again. Then she sighed and shook her head. "Okay, you were right a second ago We're not best friends." She paused and looked into Illyana's eyes. "But I hope you still at least think of me as a friend?"

"You used to call me 'Pimple', Jubilee," Illyana replied coldly.

Jubilee winced.

"You also stayed by my side when I was dying of the Legacy Virus, and entertained me, even though you didn't speak Russian, and I had no idea what you were saying. I know you didn't have to do that, but you did. So yes, I do consider you a friend. But that doesn't answer my original question."

Jubilee relaxed somewhat. "Okay. Then as a friend, could I ask a favor of you?"

"That would depend on exactly what the favor was. But I'm not opposed to the idea so far."

"Coolness. So let's pretend for a moment that I am a new and reasonably cute vampire."

Illyana stared at Jubilee for a long moment. "Go on," she said at last.

"Let's further pretend that as a new and reasonably cute vampire, I no longer cast a reflection, and therefore am currently being robbed of the pleasure of checking myself out in your standard, everyday mirror."

"I see."

"Let's further pretend that I happen to be friends with an amazingly talented sorceress who possesses a certain amount of skill in the dark arts."

"Should we also pretend that you are currently in a small, hotel bathroom with this same amazingly talented sorceress friend?"

Jubilee grinned. "Hey, why not? So long as we're pretending."

Illyana nodded, smirking again. "Of course. So long as."

"Let us further pretend that this amazingly talented sorceress friend might have a way of possibly enchanting a mirror, so that a reasonably cute vampire would be able to see herself in it."

"Wait, stop." Illyana cleared her throat. "Are you honestly asking me to enchant a mirror just so you can check how your face looks?"

"No way!" Jubilee replied at once. "That would be silly. I'm asking you enchant a mirror so I can check how all of me looks. I was hoping for a full-length one, see. So... can you do it?"

"You mean, can I enchant a mirror so that a vampire, namely you, casts a reflection in it? Probably, but I'm not going to. It would be a waste of my talent."

Jubilee's face fell. "Oh."

"Mostly because I already possess a demonic mirror that could easily be altered to suit your purposes," Illyana went on. "And since you're already a vampire, you probably wouldn't even suffer the expected negative effects, like being burned alive. And even if you did, you'd recover fairly quickly. Give me a few days to work on it. I can probably get it to expand and contract on command, so you can carry it in your pocket."

"Oh," Jubilee said again, sounding very surprised. "Okay." She bit her lip. "You really don't mind doing all that for me, 'Yana?"

"If I minded, you'd be the first to know. Anyway, you did ask nicely. I'm not too busy at the moment, and it would be an interesting little challenge. I do despise being bored, you know, and this would keep me occupied for a while. Plus I'm sure the thought of you with a demonic mirror would give Cyclops a migraine at the very least, or possibly an ulcer if we're really lucky."

Jubilee grinned and impulsively gave Illyana a big hug. "You are officially the coolest non-best friend I've ever had, 'Yana! Thank you!"

Illyana blinked, slowly and hesitantly returning the hug. "You're very welcome, Jubilee," she murmured softly. "But do me a small favor in return?"

"Sure, anything!" Jubilee answered at once, pulling back a little and beaming at her. Illyana could almost smell the trust coming off of her. It wasn't a bad feeling at all.

"Don't take me out of the running for best friend just yet?"

Jubilee's smile widened, impossible as that seemed. "You got it, 'Yana."

* * *

"What's eatin' ya, Pete?" Logan asked after several moments of uncomfortable silence.

Piotr had been staring at the closed bathroom door the entire time. He wasn't sure why. He trusted Jubilee, and it wasn't as if Illyana could not defend herself. If anything, he was more concerned that Illyana might harm Jubilee, rather than the other way around.

"My sister... does she seem different to you, Logan?"

Logan chuckled. "She's grown up. Kids, they tend to do that."

"No, I mean does she seem entirely different? Not herself, in other words."

"You mean in the way that maybe the girl in the bathroom with Jubilee is an imposter?"

"...maybe."

Logan considered this for about three seconds. "You love her?"

"Of course I love my-"

"No. You love the girl in the bathroom? When you look in her eyes, does it feel fake? Does it feel like she's foolin' ya, and the real Illyana is still dead?"

"...no," Piotr whispered. "And I firmly believe that if my sister were dead, I would feel it, know it, in my heart."

"Then why are we even havin' this conversation?"

"Because she is just so very different. Sometimes I must wonder if this isn't some sort of elaborate plot to destroy us. When I look at some of the things she's done since she returned, I have even more doubts."

"But she don't feel fake to you."

"No. No, she doesn't."

"Then I think you've got your answer, Pete. Maybe I'm going soft, but you know what? I think if she was fake, and your sister was out there somewhere else, dead, alive, or stuck in-between somehow, you'd know it, sure as you know your own name. And since it don't feel that way to you, I say what we've got here in front of us is the real deal. Changed, sure, and darker, no question, but still the honest to God genuine article. That's what my gut says, and I bet yours says the same thing, even if you're too unsure to listen to it."

"I see," Piotr said softly. "Thank you, Logan."

"No thanks necessary. Just callin' it like I see it. Might try it yourself sometime."

A moment later, the bathroom door opened, and Jubilee stepped out. "Wolvie, we can hang out here for a few days, right?" she asked. "I want a real chance to catch up with these two."

"Nice way to impose on 'em, darlin'," Logan chuckled.

"Hey, no way! They want me here!" Jubilee insisted. "Right?" she asked, looking hopefully at Piotr, who could only smile in return.

"I would not be opposed to some company, Logan," Illyana admitted as she stepped out of the bathroom. "I don't expect we'll have any other friendly visits."

"Yeah, see?" Jubilee chimed in, throwing her arm around Illyana's shoulders. "They need me! And even you can't say no to these adorable faces!" She pointedly ignored the fact that, judging by Illyana's frown, she seemed to resent being called adorable.

"I think it could be good for all of us," Piotr agreed.

"Sounds like I'm outvoted, then," Logan commented, not sounding the least bit upset about it. He stood up and pulled a small silver flask out of his pocket, tossing it to Jubilee as he headed to the door. "Gonna call Melita, make sure she ain't been kidnapped or brainwashed or nothin'."

"His giiirlfriend," Jubilee said in a loud, sing-song whisper.

Logan shot her a look before slipping out of the hotel room.

"Blood?" Illyana guessed, giving the flask a significant look.

"Yup," Jubilee replied calmly. She unscrewed the top and started to take a sip when she noticed the siblings were staring at her. "Oh, I totally forgot to ask. Does this bother you two? I could go in the bathroom and do this."

Illyana shrugged. "I've seen far worse. Brother?"

Piotr shook his head. "It is fine, Jubilee."

"You sure, Petey?" Jubilee asked. "It won't ruin your image of me?"

He smiled. "I have known you a long time, Jubilee. It is easy to imagine the contents as fruit punch. I will manage."

"I'm not sure if that was an insult or not," Jubilee murmured, pouting for a moment before taking a long drink.

"I did not mean it as one."

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "I was joking, you big silly. You're like the sweetest guy ever. I know you'd never insult me to my face. Not on purpose, anyway."

"How, ah... is it?" Piotr asked hesitantly.

She blinked slowly. "You mean, how is my blood? If you're asking if I'm enjoying my blood, not a whole lot of choice there. If you're asking if I enjoy the idea of it, no, but I manage. And if you're wondering how it tastes, then don't."

"I'm sorry."

"S'okay," Jubilee replied, giving his arm a pat. "It's an odd situation, I know."

"No odder than ruling a dimension of demons or being the Juggernaut, I imagine," Illyana added.

Jubilee nodded, unable to help grinning. "Yeah, that's probably true." Her eyes lit up. "We should totally form our own team!"

"You don't get to pick the name," Illyana said at once.

Jubilee stared at her in shock. "You mean you're okay with it? You're not even going to shoot the idea down?"

Illyana nodded. "As long as you don't get to pick the name, I think it's a great idea. I get to be the leader, of course."

"Why, because you think you're the smartest?"

"No, because she knows she's the smartest," Piotr answered knowingly, earning a smile from his sister.

Jubilee sighed. "Okay, there's that, too. So you're both in? Just like that?"

"I think we could all use some reminding of the fact that we're still human," Illyana said. "Nothing does that quite so much as having a good friend around. Of course, there are some conditions."

"Conditions?" Jubilee asked, frowning. "Like what?"

"Jubilee, we accept you just as you are. But we also accept the responsibilities that come with being friends with a vampire. That means you're going to need a constant supply of fresh blood, and we need to have some safeguards in place in case there ever comes a time when you can't get it the preferred way. Feeding from us isn't a viable option, as we don't know what that would do to you. I think the simplest solution is to have an allegiance spell in place."

"Which would do what, exactly?"

"Basically, you would swear to be my subordinate, and failure to obey would result in penalties."

Jubilee scowled at her. "I'd be your slave?!"

Illyana chuckled. "I could certainly use it that way, yes, but I would hope as my friend, you would trust me enough not to worry about that. This would mainly be to prevent your blood lust from driving you to attack innocents or comrades. The penalties would have to be rather severe, I'm afraid."

"How severe are we talking here, 'Yana?"

"Assuming your blood lust overrides common sense and your normal loyalties while possibly even enhancing your powers, quite severe. The penalties would need to stop you immediately. Maybe start with intense pain, then total paralysis, and if that still fails, possibly even a coma-like state."

"You could really do all of that?" Jubilee asked in shock.

"If you trust me to stop you, then yes. But we would also have to designate others who could activate the spell, in case anything happened to me and I was unable to. For example, I would recommend Peter."

"I wouldn't," Piotr disagreed at once.

"And why not?" Illyana asked, clearly annoyed at being challenged.

"I assume the only reason you would be unavailable to activate the spell was if something happened to you, Snowflake. But it stands to reason that it would have also happened to me, since I would be with you. So designating me as an alternate would be a waste."

Illyana rolled her eyes. "Suppose an evil sorceress decided to kidnap me from a women's restroom? The only way you would be able to prevent that is if you were in there as well, which you most certainly would not be."

Piotr blushed.

"There, you see? So, you're first on the list of alternates. Agreed, Jubilee?"

Jubilee nodded, shooting Piotr a sympathetic grin. "Sounds good to me. I assume these all need to be people I trust immensely?"

"For the most part, yes. I would suggest former teammates, and possibly even some people you almost never see. It pays to be prepared."

"Then I have some people in mind, but this would require some traveling."

Illyana nodded. "I thought as much. Seeing as how I am no longer under restriction, I'd be happy to take you anywhere you need to go. We can start tomorrow. Right now, I need to see a demon about a mirror." With a wave of her hand, she suddenly dropped out of sight, vanishing into a glowing portal that snapped shut behind her.

Jubilee frowned. "I can't say I know her that well, Petey, but I get the feeling she was lying."

"I doubt it," he replied. "She probably is going to get the mirror. It probably just won't be her only stop along the way."

"You think she's going to get herself in trouble?"

"She left us here, Jubilee. What do you think?"

"I think I want to call for back-up, but it would probably just tick her off, which I'd like to avoid. I'm starting to get why you were so overprotective. I don't much like this feeling of wanting to help her and not being able to."

"You get used to it."

She perked up a bit. "Really?"

He sighed and shook his head. "No. Not really."

* * *

It was late. Late enough where any sane person should have been fast asleep.

Naturally, when Illyana set foot into the office, she was expecting an audience of one, and she was not disappointed.

"You know, my being in here is the only reason that fifteen different alarms didn't just go off," Cyclops said mildly.

She smiled. "You're exaggerating. I'm sure it's less than nine, but more then five. Anyway, I thought you'd be up. Mind you, if I wanted to catch you indecent, I would have tried your bedroom first."

"I suppose I should be glad that you didn't. Just tell me you didn't teleport directly here from wherever you were."

"No. I had to bounce a few places first," she admitted. "Well, I probably didn't have to, but I assumed it would be better for everyone, primarily myself."

"Wonderful." Cyclops leaned forward. "Is this a social call, or do you have some business?"

"A little of both. I was serious when I said I didn't want to stay here, but I did at least want to let you know that Peter and I are fine. Oh, Logan and Jubilee send their regards."

He chuckled. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Well, they'd didn't say I couldn't lie about it. I figure that's practically sending their love, for those two. Anyway, I'm mostly here to request a current address for the St. Croix family."

Cyclops stared at her for a long moment. "As in Monet St. Croix's family?"

"That's the one. Jubilee thought we could visit."

"Monet isn't exactly one of the few people that are comfortable dealing with Jubilee's current status."

"I suspected as much. Note that I said nothing about visiting her in particular."

Cyclops stared again. "You've never met Monet's family, have you?"

"No," Illyana answered. "Do I detect a hint of concern, Scott? What is it that you think I might do to them?"

"I'm more concerned about what they might do to you, if you tried anything funny. I should warn you that Monet's sisters last tested as having genius-level intellects, when the mood struck them."

"I've dealt with genius before, Scott. I'm not impressed."

"They have a standing invitation to join the Future Foundation."

Illyana blinked. "Oh. _That_ type of genius. I promise to play nice, then. Now can I have the address?"

He gave her another long look before pulling up the information on his computer, printing it out, and offering it to her. Before she could take it, he drew his hand back slightly. "What aren't you telling me, Illyana?"

She sighed. "We've formed a team. Entirely Jubilee's idea, if it helps."

He grunted. "Is this something you'd like me to sanction at some point?"

"I think it's better that you don't. So far, there are too many people uncomfortable with Jubilee's status. And mine. And Peter's. Which is sort of the point, actually."

"Thanks for letting me know, I guess. If you were even going to."

"I didn't expect you'd give me the address unless I told you that much."

"You were right." He allowed her to take the printout. "Remember what I said about the St. Croixs. They like Jubilee, or they did last I heard. You, they could go either way on."

"I'll keep it in mind. And thank you for being open-minded, Scott."

He shook his head. "I'm not. I just haven't decided to get in your way yet."

"Then thanks for waiting." Illyana gave him a wave and summoned a portal.

As she began to step through it, Cyclops thought about warning her that Monet was currently enjoying some downtime at home, which would no doubt complicate whatever plans Illyana and Jubilee had with Monet's sisters. But then he realized that since he had no say in whatever they were planning, it was probably best for Monet to interfere, if only so he ended up with a better handle on the whole situation. So he remained silent as Illyana stepped out of his office, and instead made a mental note to keep an eye on the rest of Jubilee's former Generation X teammates. Which, now that he thought about it, did technically include both Monet and her sisters, so maybe the visit's purpose was more innocent than he figured.

"A team, huh?" Cyclops murmured as he leaned back in his chair. "Didn't see that one coming."

* * *

Logan was treated to an unusual sight when he returned to the hotel room. Honestly, he'd expected in the twenty or so minutes he'd been gone, Jubilee would have more than worn out her welcome, and the Rasputin siblings would have her restrained in some way.

Instead, he found Jubilee asleep in Illyana's bed, the covers pulled up over her head. As if that wasn't enough protection from any early morning sunlight, Illyana was in the process of magically tinting the windows. Logan had no clue how that worked, but trusted that if it involved magic, Illyana was the expert among them and therefore knew what she was doing. There was no immediate sign of Piotr, but Logan picked up his scent coming from the bathroom.

"Did your phone call go well?" Illyana asked.

By her tone, Logan judged that she was not merely trying to be polite, and was genuinely interested, so he responded in kind. "Yeah. Told her I was with some old friends. Left out the part about Pete, though. The whole Juggernaut deal is a bit much to explain over the phone, and some people still don't react well, given current events."

Illyana nodded. "Like you, Cain Marko was very good at what he did. The reputation, as well as mistaken first impressions, will be difficult to manage."

"You think Pete's up to it?" he asked.

"If not, I have no doubt he will rise to the occasion. My brother does not like to fail me, and I must admit it is one of his more endearing qualities." She paused, then added, "We've formed a team and you don't get to tell us no."

Logan grunted, though not disagreeably. "What do you need from me, besides regular fresh blood?"

"Space to work, mostly. Possibly a degree of trust."

"Guessing you only got one of those from Cyke?"

She shrugged. "I felt it was more bits and pieces of both, but he isn't trying to stop us, yet."

He nodded. "So I guess if I want to stay one of the cool dads, I can't, either."

Illyana eyed him, more curious than upset. "Why would you want to?"

"Neither of you is an expert on vampires. Hell, I'm still learning as I go."

"We won't hurt Jubilee, Logan, and we won't let her hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it."

He knew better than to argue over who deserved to be hurt and who didn't with her. It was a fight he'd never win. Really, the simple fact that anyone existed, who had both the desire and the know-how to corrupt an innocent girl's soul as completely as Illyana's had been, was justification enough. Truth be told, Logan wasn't sure if he could encounter the one responsible and not simply cut his throat in two seconds flat. He loved Illyana that much, and even if he hadn't, no girl deserved to be hurt the way she had been. And it was always nice to have a good reason to kill, if he had to do it.

"I know I can trust you and Pete, darlin'. It's just, this is Jubilee. She's mine."

"Which is only one reason why I would hope you'd trust us to protect her, and ultimately worry less about her being with us."

Logan stared at her for a long moment. "You'd ask me for help if you needed it?" he asked at last.

Illyana nodded. "You're at the top of the list. Actually, at this point, you pretty much are the list."

"Works for me."

"Us, as well." She smiled at him. "We'll be fine, Logan. If we've learned nothing else from you, it's how to take care of our own, no matter what changes they or we have gone through."

He nodded and didn't say another word against them. Not because he agreed, but because he knew famous last words when he heard them, and figured Illyana should have known better than to jinx herself like that. Part of him thought she did know, and would greet whatever hell came for her and his Jubilee with a smile. Part of him was more afraid that Illyana wouldn't be the only one smiling.

* * *

**Continued in Chapter 3: Cut and Paste, St. Croix Style**

A reunion with the St. Croix sisters proves that some monsters have rather misleading faces. One sister isn't happy to see Jubilee, though not for the expected reason.


	3. Cut and Paste: St Croix Style

Notes: To my knowledge, the St. Croix twins haven't been seen since they left the Massachusetts Academy at some point after Generation X #58. So what follows is my take on exactly why we might not have seen Nicole and Claudette in all that time, especially what might have happened to them during Scarlet Witch's "no more mutants" spell, which this story is obviously set after.

_A Note Concerning Penance_: You may or may not be aware that Penance, former member of Generation X, has since been renamed Hollow, so that some guy named Speedball could be called Penance. I hereby make you aware of the fact that I, as a fan of Penance but not of Speedball, refuse to call her by the new name for several reasons (which are listed in the endnotes of this chapter, if you're interested). Long story short, when you see the name Penance in this story (and indeed, any other Marvel related story I've written), it refers to the original red-skinned Penance, not THAT guy.

_A Note Concerning Ages_: I read somewhere that Marvel time works on a rough estimate of for every three actual years that pass, one year passes in comics. Though, since I never recall the twins being given exact ages, it's still tricky to pinpoint how old they should be now. But I estimate they were around 12 when they last appeared in comics (in 1999). I figure that's old enough for Nicole to have been as opinionated as she was, but young enough where wearing matching outfits still appealed to her. Which would mean that just over four years have passed for them, making them around 16 now. Though if they still seem a bit childish personality-wise, that's likely done on purpose.

* * *

**Monsters Like Us**

**An X-Men Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 3: Cut and Paste: St. Croix Style**

* * *

Monaco was a gorgeous place to visit. The artist in Piotr would have been happy to devote the rest of his life to painting it. The Juggernaut in him could not stop imagining how beautiful its destruction at his hands would be.

It had been Jubilee's idea to go sightseeing. Piotr had assumed she would be eager to visit the St. Croix family, as that was the entire reason they had come. At the very least, he thought it made more sense to see Monaco's sights with a guide, especially a comrade that actually lived there. But the one time he had suggested contacting the family, Jubilee had seemed hesitant, even uneasy, until Illyana had tactfully (and surprisingly, in his opinion) changed the subject.

Lately, Illyana had not been what most would call considerate toward others. Of course, Piotr was glad that she was getting along so well with Jubilee, as that had not always been the case, but he had to wonder where the change of heart had come from. He wanted to believe that Illyana simply missed having a friend around, but he was more inclined to believe that Illyana and Jubilee, not unlike himself, each saw a monster when they looked into a mirror. Still, Piotr had to admit that he hadn't expected Illyana to accept Jubilee's idea of becoming a team at all, and it made him far less concerned about his sister's humanity. He was still plenty afraid of eventually losing his own, though.

The fact remained that they simply could not wander about Monaco for the rest of the evening. Eventually, the sun would rise, putting Jubilee in great danger, and they needed to secure shelter before then, either in a hotel, or with the St. Croixs. Piotr was sure he didn't need to remind Illyana of this, as she had been the one seeing to Jubilee's needs since they had left Logan. On the other hand, if he could get Illyana to agree with him, Jubilee would probably allow herself to be talked out of stalling any longer.

Illyana had always had a better sense of timing than he, though. Piotr was reminded of this when Illyana abruptly pulled Jubilee into an alley and gave her an ultimatum.

"I realize you must feel conflicted about contacting the St. Croixs, Jubilee. But I did not plan for us to need another hotel so soon. So you either need to face your fear in the next few hours, or admit that you can't so I can get us out of here before sunrise."

"I know, I know," Jubilee murmured. "Sorry for dragging you guys all the way out here. I thought I was ready to deal with this, but maybe I'm not."

"It's not a problem," Illyana said, gently squeezing Jubilee's hand. "We can always come back later, after we try some of your other friends."

Jubilee gave Illyana a hopeless look, and Piotr could tell she was about to say something along the lines of, "Vampires don't have friends." It wasn't something he wanted to hear, and without really thinking about it, he reached over and lightly brushed his knuckles against Jubilee's pale cheek. A soft, hesitant smile was his reward, but he could still see the doubt lingering in Jubilee's eyes.

Perhaps if he had not been so focused on Jubilee, Piotr would have sensed that they were not alone a few seconds earlier. For that matter, Illyana might have as well, or perhaps she was merely acting as if were unaware. All he knew for certain was that one moment, he'd been looking at Jubilee, and in the next, there was a flying teenaged girl in a black bodysuit hovering several feet above their heads.

* * *

Having been exposed to the X-Men early in her childhood, Illyana had quickly gotten used to being around flying people. There were many times when she had envied the ability, but just as many when she had cursed it because enemies either also had it, or had extensive practice shooting people out of the sky. Illyana preferred to be practical about it: she knew spells that enabled her to fly, and just as many to ground flying enemies. In short, the days when someone could intimidate her simply by hovering over her were long gone.

But after training her eyes on the girl simply floating in the air, Illyana realized that intimidation wasn't the purpose: observation was. The girl was merely watching them.

It took Jubilee a few seconds to follow Illyana's gaze, and then she gasped, genuinely surprised, if only because she hadn't sensed the flying girl beforehand. Then she swallowed hard and whispered, "Claudette? Is that you?"

In response, the flying girl abruptly dropped several feet at once, in what Illyana first mistook as an attack. However, the descent slowed just as quickly, allowing the girl to land neatly, if a bit unexpectedly, in a startled Jubilee's arms. She immediately wrapped her arms around Jubilee's neck in a tight but childish hug, leaving Jubilee with little choice but to return the hug, affectionate person that she still was.

Up close, Illyana could see the resemblance to Jubilee's former teammate Monet quite clearly. The flawless caramel skin and long, dark hair were dead giveaways, and judging by Jubilee's earlier questions, the notably blank look in the girl's eyes, and her total silence so far, she could only be Claudette, the autistic twin. Still, Illyana found it quite odd that an autistic girl, even one that possessed mutant powers, would be flying around at night alone.

Jubilee apparently did as well. Once she got a more comfortable grip on Claudette, she immediately asked, "Where is Nicole, sweetie? You're not out here by yourself, are you?"

Again, Claudette did not respond verbally, not that anyone present expected her to. But they also didn't expect Claudette to raise her right hand and release what was unmistakably a pyrotechnic display high into the air, and with Jubilee's power signature, no less.

No more than three seconds passed before a second flying girl appeared overhead. Like Claudette, she was wearing a skintight black bodysuit. Unlike Claudette, she was talking even before she touched down among them.

"Claudette, you naughty twin! I've told you a hundred times not to just fly off without me!" Nicole scolded. She paused, got a good look at them, and suddenly her eyes went wide as she noticed who her sister was hugging. There was a delighted shriek, and then Jubilee was nearly knocked over as Nicole gave her an enthusiastic hug around the middle that was no doubt endowed with a bit of superhuman strength.

"Um, nice to see you, too, Nicole," Jubilee gasped, patting the second twin's head. "Let up on the super-powered squeeze a bit, would you?"

Nicole immediately released her, looking ashamed. "Sorry, Jubilee! It's just, we missed you SO much!" Unable to help herself, she gave Jubilee another hug, though more carefully this time.

"I really missed you girls, too," Jubilee murmured, wrapping one arm around Nicole so she could hug both girls properly.

"You should have told us you were coming!" Nicole added excitedly. "Father would have sent a car to pick up you and your friends."

Jubilee grinned. "Thanks, but we wanted to surprise you. By the way, I want you girls to meet my current best bud Illyana Rasputin, and her big brother Peter. They've been pals of mine since way back."

Nicole was strangely silent for a few seconds as she stared at the other set of siblings, and then she said, "Claudette thinks your demonic auras are really pretty."

Illyana and Piotr exchanged puzzled glances.

"What?" Nicole asked. "You knew you had them, right? I thought everyone with a demonic aura would."

"Yes, we knew," Illyana began, "but-"

"Okay, hold on a second!" Jubilee interrupted. "First, you two come flying in here, then Claudette uses my sparks, and now you can see demonic auras? Just how much have you two grown since I last saw you?"

"You should know better than to ever underestimate a St. Croix, Jubilee," said a third flying female as she landed before them. This one was unmistakably a grown woman, and from the way that Jubilee flinched, clearly one of the people she'd been most hesitant about seeing again.

"Oh. Hey, Monet," Jubilee said softly. "It's been a while."

"Indeed," Monet St. Croix agreed, giving her a prolonged stare before glancing at the others. "I assume you'll be needing shelter before sunrise?"

"It would be greatly appreciated," Illyana confirmed. "We do apologize for imposing."

"It's no problem. We can easily handle three guests." Monet gestured to Nicole, who took out a cellphone and began to dial. "I see you haven't changed much, Jubilee. Instead of trying to find a way to contact us, you simply wandered around aimlessly?"

"Certain people didn't leave me a phone number the last time we were together," Jubilee pointed out. "And if I'd known you and the girls would be flying around at night, I would have just picked out a tall building to yell from."

"Well, they do enjoy their patrols, and Claudette loves to fly."

"About that. I guess it's no real shock they got your powers, but since when can Claudette use mine?" Jubilee asked.

"That's... a long story," Monet replied evasively. "One that's best left until you're properly settled at the house."

Nicole cleared her throat loudly. "Monet, they want to know if we'll need a car sent out."

Illyana was not the least bit surprised when everyone (even Claudette, oddly enough) seemed to be staring at her expectantly. "I suppose it would be more eco-friendly," she sighed, preparing a large portal. In the process, she noticed that Claudette had drifted over to Piotr and slipped her hand into his. Though he was a little startled at first, Piotr quickly relaxed. Illyana thought it was good to see that neither of them had been too damaged by their wayward siblings to connect with others. Beyond that, she was glad that Claudette and Nicole didn't seem to care about demonic auras. Monet probably did, but so long as the twins stayed open-minded, perhaps there was still hope for this little venture yet.

* * *

The St. Croix home was pretty much what Piotr had expected: enormous, luxurious, and practically filled with attendants. Illyana's portal deposited them at the front door, where no less than ten butlers were waiting just inside. Monet issued orders to each of them in rapid French, and the butlers practically vanished, one of them having taken Jubilee's raincoat before she even realized it. Piotr wanted to believe that Monet was simply more comfortable with that language, but something told him that it was at least partially so her guests wouldn't be able to follow the conversations. Thankfully, Nicole was nothing like Monet, and translated the important parts: food was being prepared, and they could make themselves at home within reason. Piotr was tempted to ask if that included fresh blood for Jubilee, though decided against it, because he was sure Monet wouldn't be amused.

Monet showed them into a spacious den with a couch and several armchairs. "We can talk here," she said, but Piotr thought her voice sounded strained. She immediately sank down into the armchair closest to the wall.

Jubilee chose to sit on the couch, and was immediately joined by Nicole, who was clearly happy just to be near her. Illyana sat beside Nicole.

This left another armchair for Piotr. He assumed Claudette would claim an empty chair, but was again surprised when she sat in his lap and made herself comfortable. He glanced at Nicole and Jubilee, who both giggled, then Illyana, who shrugged, and finally at Monet, who looked quite perturbed. "Is Claudette always so familiar with people she barely knows?"

"No, never," Nicole answered. "She must really think you're cute or something. Don't get me wrong, you are, but I'm not ready to sit on you just yet."

"Nicole can get her to move, if it's a problem," Monet offered, obviously hoping it was. "Of course, we encourage Claudette to express herself in virtually any way she chooses, but-"

"It's not a problem," Piotr interrupted. "I was just curious. She isn't bothering me."

Monet sighed and shook her head. "Fine. Jubilee, you asked about their powers earlier. Nicole can best explain that."

Jubilee looked at her in surprise. "What, really? Why can't you tell me?"

Monet glared at her. "I wasn't there, so I only heard the story. Nicole and Claudette actually lived it. Claudette has made some remarkable progress, but speaking aloud may always be beyond her. So you can either let Nicole tell you, or let me tell you and possibly leave out details, which you would only end up asking Nicole about, anyway. I'm simply saying that letting her tell you is far more efficient. It's not as if I declined because I don't want to talk to you."

Jubilee blinked slowly. "Geez, Monet. Calm down. I didn't mean anything by it, honest."

"No. Of course you didn't," Monet murmured as she looked away, her eyes still narrowed.

Nicole gave Claudette a significant look. After a long moment, Claudette stood up, crossed the room, and sank into Monet's lap. Monet relaxed at once, wrapping her arms around Claudette's waist and holding her close.

"Monet didn't mean to snap at you, Jubilee," Nicole explained. "It's just that she's always been very sensitive about not being able to communicate effectively with Claudette. Even I only have so much success at times, and I used to share a body with her."

"But you can talk to her, and she does hear you," Jubilee insisted. "Just now, you told her to go to Monet, didn't you?"

"No, though I can see why you might think that. I told her Monet was hurting, which was true enough. Claudette did the rest. I don't like to give her commands. It stifles her individuality."

"And sharing a body didn't do that?"

Nicole smiled sadly. "Yes, it did. I've since apologized to Claudette for ever even talking her into it. Which is part of why I don't want to do it anymore, if at all possible. To this day, I'm sure Claudette only agreed because I suggested it. It's true we didn't know-" She trailed off abruptly, looking at Claudette and smiling warmly. "Sorry, guys. Claudette just gave me a mental poke to remind me that I'm rambling, when I'm supposed to be telling you what happened to us."

"So she talked to you, right?" Jubilee asked. "With telepathy?"

"Yes and no. She did talk to me and it's most likely telepathically based. But that would imply that any other telepath in the room, including Monet, would be able to do the same with her, and that's never been the case with Claudette. She and I can just connect. Possibly because we're twins, and we share more than we realize as a result. Now quit asking questions so I can tell the story, okay?"

* * *

Illyana was rarely ever impressed by the practical application of mutant powers, even by young children. But Nicole's story, if true (and Illyana so far had no reason to believe it was false), was rather impressive. She had just been assuming that, like so many other mutants impacted by the Scarlet Witch's spell, Nicole and Claudette had either lost and regained their powers, or been entirely unaffected. The latter turned out to be the case, but not in a way that anyone could have expected.

Claudette, through some means that Nicole could not even begin to guess at, had sensed the danger even before the spell was cast. Naturally, she'd had no accurate way to communicate this in time, so Claudette had done the only thing she could think of: opened a portal to another dimension, and dragged Nicole into it with her. Illyana was shocked, both by simplicity of the plan, as well as the danger. If the entire universe was going to be adversely impacted by a threat, moving to another entirely was practically the only way to avoid it. But she was still willing to bet that Claudette had not been able to pick and choose which universe she wanted, and had likely only selected the one that seemed safest or easiest to access.

From there, the story only became more fantastic. With no explanation as to why she had been forced into another dimension, Nicole had understandably been confused and on the verge of panic. Having had no other way to reveal her motives, Claudette had combined with Nicole to form the false Monet again. But because Claudette had initiated the fusion, she remained the controlling consciousness, although with a curious side effect: for the first time, she had no longer been hindered by her autism. This startling realization had soon been followed by a more sobering one: the autism was not gone, but transferred to Nicole's mind for some unknown reason. Horrified at what she had unintentionally done to her sister, Claudette had tried to undo the fusion immediately, but was shocked when what little of Nicole's mind she could still understand resisted. Nicole had realized what Claudette had missed in her guilt: that this might be Claudette's only chance to be free of her autism, for however long it lasted, and that she should take advantage of it. Beyond that, Nicole reasoned that even if the change was permanent, it was worth it to give Claudette the freedom that all their father's money and doctors had never been able to.

Claudette had certainly not wasted the opportunity. Nicole was still not entirely certain what her sister had done, mainly because suddenly becoming autistic had not been conducive to paying attention to anyone else. All she knew for sure was that when they had separated, Claudette was the autistic twin again, and Nicole mysteriously had an additional, very well-developed set of mutant powers that included superhuman strength and flight. Claudette had seemed largely unchanged at first, but she eventually began to fly as well, though with the curious restraint that she needed to remain remotely near Nicole to do so.

"Even now, I still don't have all the answers," Nicole admitted. "But I can tell you for sure that Claudette must have spent a great deal of time advancing our mutant powers. My strength was second nature to me the first time I used it. Of course, we'd gotten plenty of practice when posing as Monet, but that had never really applied to my own body, only hers. Claudette's telepathy has come a long way, too. We can communicate a lot better than we ever did before, and there's no longer a risk of me getting pulled into one of her catatonic stupors, thanks to her safe zone."

"What's a safe zone?" Jubilee asked, glancing between the twins.

"There's a specific area in Claudette's mind now where we go when we want to talk. It wasn't always there, or at least I didn't know about it until recently. There's still some guesswork involved, I admit. She doesn't communicate quite like anyone else I've ever met. Sometimes the best she can give me is disconnected words, phrases, or pictures, but we manage. That's how she told me about her new power. Of course, with the picture she drew me, I immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion, but after I thought about it, I realized what Claudette had been trying to tell me."

"Does this have to do with how she has Jubilee's power?" Piotr asked. "Was it a picture of Jubilee?"

Nicole smiled. "Yes and no. At least, the picture wasn't of Jubilee. It was of Everett."

"_Our_ Everett?" Jubilee asked in shock.

"The one and only. I thought Claudette was trying to tell that she had his powers, or that she had borrowed them to access my flight, but that was only half of the story. I think Everett had synched with us, separately and as Monet, enough times where Claudette either understood his powers or was able to imprint them on herself. Because that is her power: she can copy powers and imprint them on others, herself included. The part I don't quite understand is how she does it. Jubilee, I can't begin to guess if Claudette just remembered how your powers worked, or if she can somehow access the powers that Everett synched with. But with everything that's happened, we thought she should hang onto them, in case you needed them back."

"You mean Claudette can give Jubilee her powers back?" Illyana asked.

Nicole nodded. "We have every reason to believe that it would be permanent, too, if only because they were hers to begin with."

"But I was a different person then," Jubilee murmured. "Heck, I'm a different person now!"

"We still think it will work," Nicole insisted. "Even taking into account that you're a vampire now."

Jubilee bit her lip, but relaxed slightly when no one seemed to react to it, not even Monet. "You knew about that?"

Nicole shrugged. "It wasn't hard to guess. You know we can see auras."

"Actually, I only remember that your brother could. If Monet could, she either never told me or I forgot."

"Oh. Well, it's a family thing. Anyway, everyone has an aura, even non-mutants. It's just a matter of getting into the habit of looking for them, for the most part. Mutant ones are yellow, and I'm guessing demonic and undead are more or less the same, because they both look red to me and Claudette."

Jubilee shook her head. "Then why are you so sure that you can give mutant powers to a vampire?"

"Depowered mutant turned vampire," Nicole corrected. "And we're sure because of what we are, or what we are now."

"Which is what? Cute?"

Nicole beamed at her. "You're sweet, but no. When Claudette and I fused in that other dimension, we must have absorbed part of that environment. Because no scanner on this planet, or probably in this dimension, identifies us as human or mutant anymore."

"What Nicole is clearly taking great joy in telling you," Monet sighed, "is that my sisters are now officially aliens. I, of course, prefer the term 'legal foreigners', but-"

"We're aliens!" Nicole shouted, pouting. "It sounds cooler!"

"Let me guess: your auras are green now," Jubilee chuckled.

"They are! Really! Stop laughing!"

Jubilee reached over and patted her hand. "It is kinda funny, Nicole, but I didn't mean to laugh. Sorry. Anyway, what does you being alien have to do with anything?"

"I don't think that was an accident," Nicole replied. "I think Claudette did it on purpose, to protect us from any lingering negative factors that might impact mutants. So she effectively changed our auras into something other than mutant. If she could do that for us, it only makes sense that she could either turn Jubilee back into a mutant, or at least imprint her powers in a way that a vampire could use them."

Jubilee startled everyone by asking, "Well, what if I don't want them back?"

Nicole gaped at her, as if she had never considered that. "But... I thought... you don't want them back? Why not?"

"I'm not saying for sure I don't, and I really do appreciate you munchkins looking out for me, don't think I don't. But believe it or not, I'd gotten used to not having my powers. And I'll get used to being a vampire, which I'll remind you, comes with its own set of powers I'm still learning my way around. So the last thing I need right now is more power on top of what I still don't have the hang of yet. Maybe when that changes I can accept your offer, but right now, I just can't."

"We never thought you wouldn't want them back," Nicole admitted, frowning. "We thought you'd be happy."

"I am happy," Jubilee insisted, giving Nicole a big hug. "Trust me, friends tend to be in short supply for vampires, so I'm very happy to have two good ones like you and Claudette."

"You forgot Monet," Nicole pointed out.

"I didn't, either. She's always been more a reluctant associate than a friend, and that's when I was still a mutant."

"If you're implying that I no longer want to associate with you because you're a vampire, Jubilee," Monet stated, "that is entirely inaccurate. I didn't want to associate with you because you were loud, tactless, and uncoordinated. Your being a vampire could only be an improvement, and I have yet to see one quite so hopeless in regards to fashion sense as you once were."

"Gee, Monet, you're all heart," Jubilee muttered.

"Don't give up on her so quickly, Jubilee," Illyana said at once. "Some people can surprise you, if given the opportunity."

"Exactly what is this opportunity?" Monet asked, glancing between them suspiciously.

"I think it's something best discussed in private." Noticing Nicole's curious look, Illyana added, "Just the three of us."

Nicole pouted. "That's very rude, you know!"

"You're Monet's sister, how could you not be used to rude?" Jubilee snorted.

"That's exactly why I don't like getting it from other people, too!"

After shooting Nicole a dark look, Monet scooped up Claudette and stood, depositing her gently on her feet. "Nicole, I trust you two can entertain Peter until we're done? I doubt this will take long."

Illyana and Jubilee exchanged annoyed glances, but neither one was really shocked, either. Monet sounded very much as if she'd already refused their request, without even knowing what it was. Illyana was beginning to understand why Jubilee hadn't been looking forward to this reunion, and wondered if she'd overestimated the bond that Jubilee and Monet had once shared as teammates.

"Yeah, okay," Nicole grumbled, standing and turning to Piotr. "Want to see Claudette's paintings? She does that sometimes. I still don't know what most of them are supposed to be, since she likes me to guess, so I could use an artist's opinion."

"That... sounds very interesting," Piotr admitted slowly.

Nicole grabbed him with one hand and Claudette with the other, and proceeded to virtually drag them out of the room, not that either one put up much resistance.

Once they were gone, Monet sat down again. "So I assume this opportunity she mentioned is why you're really here, Jubilee?"

"Hey, that's not fair, Monet!" Jubilee cried. "I really did want to see the twins again!"

Monet smirked. "But not me."

"Well, can you blame me? I mean, we were never really close, and I accept that. But tonight it seems like you've got a major attitude problem on top of the usual one. You say it's not about me being a vampire, but I can't imagine what else it could be, so maybe you're the one that needs to start talking."

"I wasn't lying. If I actually thought you were a danger to my sisters, I wouldn't have let you anywhere near them, and I certainly wouldn't have invited you into my home."

"So what is your problem with me all of a sudden? I'm pretty sure I haven't been here long enough to do anything majorly wrong."

"My problem, Jubilee, is that you are once again a special case. The X-Men have always made exceptions for you. That's fine for you, but when others are in similar situations, they do not receive the benefits of your connections. Were you even aware of that, or did you just take it all for granted?"

Jubilee stared at Monet, then looked at Illyana. "Okay, I'm lost. What is she even talking about?"

"She means Emplate," Illyana explained patiently. "Apparently Monet is upset that you and he were treated... differently."

"Oh, okay. That makes more sense." Jubilee stood up, walked over to Monet, and promptly slapped her so hard that she was knocked out of her chair. "And hopefully that will have knocked some sense back into you."

Monet stared up at Jubilee, fury in her eyes. "Explain yourself. Quickly."

"I didn't think I had to. You just compared me to Emplate, a maniac that's tried to kill me and our friends repeatedly. Not only that, he's the same jerk-off that trapped you in Penance's body for years and basically slurped you like a really big dinner mint for just as long. On top of that, he tried to kidnap the twins, who you claim to love so much, likely so he could give them the same treatment or worse. I won't even mention what he did to Everett, someone else you claimed to love. So you listen to me good, Monet St. Croix: I don't care if that freak is your brother or not, and I'll remind you that he claims your brother is dead every time we've seen him. You ever compare me to him again, and there really will be no difference between me and him, because I'll do my best to rip your damn throat out."

"So you're entitled and he isn't?" Monet countered. "I know very well that you turned on the X-Men when you become a vampire."

"Yeah, I did. Briefly, Monet. And it wasn't something I wanted to do. As in I haven't spent most of my life hunting down mutants, stealing their powers, and turning them into mindless slaves. Your fruit loop brother has. So the only thing he's entitled to is exactly what he's got now: a cell in Utopia and no one visiting him." Jubilee shook her head in disgust. "You know what, I'm done here. I see now it was a mistake to even think of asking you. 'Yana, I'll be outside somewhere when you two are ready to go." With that, Jubilee stomped out of the room.

"Why are you still here?" Monet snapped at Illyana after a moment.

Illyana remained calm, as she knew Monet's anger wasn't really directed at her, or technically even at Jubilee. "Because I want to apologize. I encouraged Jubilee to face her fears and come here. I assumed the bond between you two was stronger than it obviously is. I feel the resulting conflict is therefore my fault. I'm truly sorry, Monet."

"Of course you are," Monet spat, not believing a word of it. "What made you think you knew anything about the nature of our relationship?"

"I have teammates that I have purposely distanced myself from. Some may even hate me. But I am certain that if I were genuinely in trouble, they would put personal differences aside to help me. I hoped you could do the same for Jubilee. Clearly, I was mistaken. We won't trouble you any further."

Monet carefully touched the bright red handprint on her cheek. "This isn't what I wanted," she said softly.

Illyana nodded. "I suspect Jubilee feels much the same way. Goodnight, Monet."

* * *

Though Illyana felt that Jubilee was justifiably angry, she was still amazed at how long the anger had lasted. More than an hour after they'd left the St. Croix estate, Jubilee was still furious. She had refused to even stay on the grounds, even though Nicole had begged her not to leave. It was likely that Illyana's promise not to cause any further trouble was already broken: as they'd left, Nicole and Monet had begun a furious shouting match with each other. Piotr had wanted to stay to break things up in case the two came to blows, but Jubilee felt certain that despite Monet's temper, she would have to be brainwashed before she'd harm either of her sisters. Such a statement only confused Illyana, though: if Jubilee had such faith in Monet, why didn't it work the other way around?

At any rate, Jubilee hadn't wanted to leave Monaco just yet, something that Illyana inwardly applauded. There was no sense in letting the fight with Monet run them out of town. The idea of going to a late night diner, then, had been a welcome one, as they never had gotten to the food Monet's butlers had been preparing. Still, Illyana wasn't quite sure that the best way for Jubilee to get over her anger was a heaping plate of chili cheese fries.

Illyana recalled eating some rather questionable things shortly after she joined the New Mutants for the first time, but Kitty had always been rather health conscious. Consequently, most of the questionable things had been along the lines of organic foods that at least claimed to have some nutritional value, even if they tasted like cardboard. Jubilee kept insisting that the great thing about chili cheese fries was that they combined all food groups and yet contained little to no nutritional value, though Illyana felt sure she was just making up the speech as she went along. Piotr had been brave enough to try a few bites, but then he probably had a partially demonic digestive system now, and failing that, being the Juggernaut had to burn off calories like nobody's business. Cain Marko had always been enormous, but the only fat part about him had been his head, and even that was probably more muscle than anything else (brain included).

Perhaps that strangest thing about the whole dining experience was that after drowning the fries in ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce, Jubilee didn't eat one bite. "No point," she said sadly. "The only thing vamps can really taste is blood. Everything else might as well be sandpaper. But I can still appreciate the smell. Man, when I was with Gen X, we used to-"

"Don't you mean when you were with the X-Men?" Piotr asked automatically. He and many others had heard Jubilee's countless tales of her adventures with the X-Men, and why they presumably made her a know-it-all about the current situation.

Jubilee just stared at him, more than a little surprised. "You'd think so, right? But this was genuinely about my time with Gen X. We used to pig out on chili cheese fries any time we could get away from Frosty long enough to manage it. She actually banned us from eating them in the dorm, so we'd order in and eat out on the lawn, just so we couldn't get punished. 'Course, Monet always had better things to do and Paige was our resident health nut, but I could always count on Ev and Ange to eat the extra orders. I really miss those guys. Sometimes I even miss Frosty, or the way she used to be, anyway."

"So, to review," Illyana murmured softly, "you insisted we come here so that you could smell a plate of chili cheese fries?"

"Basically, yeah. But I'm done now." Jubilee pushed the plate over to Illyana. "You can have the rest."

Illyana pushed the plate to her brother, who dug into it again with a resigned sigh. "Have you given any thought to who we should try next?"

"Yeah. Paige was probably the most comfortable with the whole vampire thing, and only because she considers herself a mutant ambassador, coming from the Guthrie clan and all. I haven't talked to Jono in a while, but he might be okay with it, all things considered. Kitty's still talking to me, though I notice she's managed to avoid being in the same room with me for quite a while. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess."

"Maybe we should hold off on Kitty for a while," Illyana suggested, glancing at Piotr. "She might not be pleased to learn that we're all traveling together."

"Oh, she definitely wouldn't. But I figure if I give her a sob story about being able to count my friends on one hand, she'll cave."

"That's rather underhanded of you."

"So glad I have your approval, 'Yana. Anyway, it's not like I have a lot of choice here."

"You may have more choice that you're aware of, Jubilee. By the way, don't look, but the couple in that booth near the door are staring at you."

Jubilee froze. "Really? Is either of them cute?"

"I'd have to say both are."

Jubilee risked a glance, scowling when she realized it was only Nicole and Claudette. "That was a really dirty trick, 'Yana."

"I did tell you not to look," Illyana insisted, waving the twins over. "They obviously want to talk to you if they followed us this far. A few minutes couldn't hurt."

"It could if Monet followed them."

"But how likely is that? We're in a diner. I can't imagine Monet would set foot in a restaurant with less than four stars just for us."

Nicole immediately squeezed in with Jubilee and gave her a big hug, while Claudette silently slid in next to Piotr and began eating what remained of the fries.

"Whatever Monet did to upset you, I'm so sorry, Jubilee!" Nicole cried. "Please, don't leave yet!"

Jubilee smiled and wrapped her arm around Nicole. "I appreciate you two stalking me just so you could apologize, but that's not really what I want."

"It's not what we want, either," Nicole insisted, nodding at Claudette, who had picked up speed and seemed now to be a real threat to Piotr finishing the fries himself. "We talked it over, and we both want to know what you wanted to talk to Monet about. Maybe we can help you instead. We could even become Monet again, if that's what you really need."

"It isn't, but again, I appreciate it. I don't think you can help us with this, though."

"Actually, I disagree," Illyana cut in. "Jubilee, I realize you may be trying to protect the twins, but I doubt it's necessary. They've clearly survived worse hardships than a friend being turned into a vampire."

"Like a brother choosing to become a professional vampire, for example," Nicole pointed out. "Claudette and I grew up a lot in that other dimension. We aren't those helpless kids anymore, and we can make our own choices. We chose to follow you guys, and we choose to help you in any way we can. We're all friends here. Well, we are with Jubilee. But if you guys are hanging out with her, you must be pretty cool, too, so I'm sure we'll all be friends in no time!"

"Nicole, you don't even know what you're volunteering for," Jubilee sighed.

"So tell me! There's absolutely no way I could be less helpful than Monet was!"

"That is a good point," Piotr agreed hesitantly. "The only real issue is if you trust her enough, Jubilee."

"That's not the only issue!" Jubilee snapped. "I don't... I don't want them to ever see me like that!"

Nicole glanced around the booth curiously. "Like what? What are you guys talking about?"

Piotr reached across the table and placed his hand on Jubilee's. "I don't think it will hurt to at least tell them. They came after us, they obviously care for you, and I don't think they would abandon you if they haven't yet."

"Of course we wouldn't!" Nicole latched onto Jubilee's arm at once. "Jubilee, we don't care if you're a vampire. You're a good person, you're our friend, and we love you. I know it's just a technicality to some people, but the way we see it, Claudette and I are former members of Generation X, too. You trusted us once, even if you thought we were Monet then. Can't you trust us now that we're ourselves?"

Jubilee scowled at them all. "You guys really know how to gang up on a girl, don't you?"

"I would hope you could always count on friends to do so when you're being needlessly unreasonable," Illyana replied. "I'll explain the issue at hand to Nicole for you."

"Fine," Jubilee grumbled.

"Nicole, we've begun taking precautions to ensure that if Jubilee is ever overcome by blood lust, we have protocols in place to protect her and others. We've decided to start with a simple subjugation spell: several volunteers will be entrusted with the magical power to force Jubilee into submission, should she ever lose control. We hoped that Monet would accept the offer, but Jubilee never got the chance to extend it."

"That all makes sense, except for the last part," Nicole muttered, clearly angry. "Why would you ask Monet? Better yet, why would you ask Monet and not me? Obviously, I'm a much better friend than she is!"

"Clearly," Illyana agreed with a smile. "But we weren't sure how you girls would react to Jubilee's vampire status, and this is a big responsibility."

Nicole shrugged. "It sounds like you'd just need to know if Jubilee could trust me to stop her from hurting anyone or herself if it came to that. I would think the answer was obvious. So, again: why hasn't anyone asked me?"

"Did you not hear the part about me not wanting you to see me that way?" Jubilee asked uncomfortably.

"Jubilee, I'd rather see you vamping out and be in a position to stop you, than to see you become what Marius has and be able to do nothing to help you."

"But won't it be hard for you to go through that again?"

"Yes. But it'll be harder to lose you when we could have done something. Please, let us help you. We want to. We need to."

Jubilee was wavering and everyone could see it. What finally clenched her decision was when Claudette pushed the plate across the table, revealing that she'd spelled out the word "helpers" in ketchup.

* * *

The following morning, Piotr woke up back in the hotel room, to the startling but not entirely unfamiliar sensation of someone sleeping on top of him. He relaxed only slightly when he realized it was just Claudette, as he was still a little confused as to why she was so attached to him. The only thing he could figure was that she missed having an older brother around, and had perhaps decided that anyone's older brother would do. He had not objected when Nicole suggested that she and Claudette sleep over, both because the twins wanted to avoid Monet for a bit longer, and they'd been reluctant to part ways with Jubilee. He fully expected that Nicole would find another excuse to extend their stay at the day's end, but he was going to insist that they at least contact Monet. He would not wish the days he had spent agonizing over his own sister's disappearance on a comrade, no matter how rude Monet seemed to be to her own friends.

A soft sigh to his right made him aware of the fact that Nicole was in the bed as well. He noted with very little surprise that despite the twins being asleep, their hands were joined with fingers interlaced. Moving slowly and carefully, Piotr slipped out of the bed and put Claudette down in his place. As if he'd touched an invisible tripwire, Nicole immediately scooted over and spooned Claudette, who gave no sign of having been disturbed.

For no reason that Piotr could understand, he suddenly missed Kitty, fiercely and desperately. Between Jubilee, who talked quite a bit, and Nicole, who talked almost nonstop, and Claudette, who without saying a word still managed to fascinate him, there had not been much time to think about Kitty. But now that things were quiet and still, there was nothing but time to do so. He wondered, briefly, if she might be crying, but decided against it. Knowing her, she would likely still be furious and cursing the day she first met him. He hoped that she was surrounded by her friends and keeping busy. Part of him even hoped (but dreaded) that she might have moved on and found someone else already. She deserved better than he'd been able to give her, and he wanted her to be happy. Deep down, he knew that anyone who could not accept his devotion to Illyana would never be able to stay in his life. Not even Kitty had been more important, and she had meant the world to him.

He wasn't sure how long he'd stood there, staring into space. But suddenly Claudette was there as well, leaning against his side, offering what comfort she could with her presence. Though he was still uncertain as to whether or not Claudette could truly understand anyone other than Nicole, Piotr gently put his arm around her and whispered, "Thank you." She didn't respond, but she didn't move away, either.

A few short minutes later, Nicole grumbled and sat up, blinking sleepily. "Claudette?" she murmured.

"I have her, Nicole," Piotr replied.

"Oh." Nicole collapsed without another word, and was soon asleep again.

Though Piotr was sure that Nicole merely wanted to get back to sleep in a hurry, that she apparently trusted him to look after her twin was not lost on him. Perhaps because Logan had been gone when they returned, leaving only a hastily written note behind, Piotr considered himself the group's main protector. Illyana and Jubilee would no doubt laugh at him if he ever said that out loud, but at the same time, they probably wouldn't fight him over it.

* * *

Illyana, for the most part, did not enjoy being touched. It was fine between family and certain friends, if the contact was welcome, but otherwise, she could do without it. That was the main reason why she had not exactly been excited about the idea of the twins sleeping over: they only two beds in the room as it was. For once, Logan's habit of vanishing without warning had been a blessing: not that he would have taken either bed with her or Jubilee present, but it was still easier to divide only five people among two beds, as opposed to six. Jubilee had initially suggested that she take a bed and share with the twins, correctly figuring that Illyana both wouldn't want to share with the twins, and wouldn't mind sharing with Piotr if it came to that. Claudette had ruined this by continually climbing into bed with him, much to Piotr's embarrassment. He seemed certain that Monet would be even more upset if she showed up and saw them like that. On the other hand, Illyana felt sure that even with Monet's super strength, she would not actually be able to seriously harm Piotr in his Juggernaut form without destroying the entire hotel around them, which Monet would not risk while her sisters were still in it.

In the end, Nicole refused to sleep in a separate bed from Claudette, anyway, and Jubilee had given up and gone to bed first, leaving enough room for anyone to join her. Though Jubilee clearly trusted Piotr enough not to mind sharing a bed with him, it still would have been awkward, mainly because there was room for her and Piotr, but not for her, Piotr, and the twins. Illyana understood that they had to make certain allowances for Claudette, and didn't mind this, up to a point. But she was still inwardly glad that Claudette had become attached to Piotr, and not her.

Though waking up early in the morning to Claudette sitting on her obviously made Illyana question that assumption.

"Do not be alarmed, Snowflake," Piotr said as he walked over. "She has been doing that to everyone for the past few minutes."

Illyana noticed at once that there was a large sheet of paper taped to his chest, and that someone, most likely Claudette, had printed "Petr" on it in black, bold letters. Oddly enough, Illyana's first assumption was not that Claudette had misspelled the name, but that she had intentionally combined "Peter" with "Piotr". The focus of Illyana's musings shifted when she felt Claudette press another sheet paper onto her own chest. The meaning behind this one was clear at once: Illyana had been labeled as "Yana", no doubt because that was the name Claudette had heard applied to her most in the past several hours. Honestly, she'd been hoping for some variation of Snowflake, but it had been hard for Piotr to say much of anything with two talkative girls present.

To no great surprise, Jubilee had been branded "Sparkly" and seemed quite pleased with it. Nicole, curiously enough, had not gotten a name, but simply an enormous smiley face. Illyana had trouble accepting the idea that Claudette's autism had prevented her from learning her own twin's name, so assumed that Nicole simply spent an enormous amount of time smiling at Claudette. That, or Claudette simply saw Nicole as an extension of herself, and therefore felt no need to give her an additional name.

Perhaps the most curious thing was that Claudette had created other nametags for people who were not only not present, but that she likely had never even met, at least not as herself. Logan's "Hunter" was obvious, as it had even been placed on the floor in the last spot that Logan had been sitting in. Among the pile on the table were "Frosty" for Emma Frost (and rather conclusive proof that Claudette definitely paid attention when Jubilee was talking), "Sunshine" for Paige Guthrie, and "Jono" for Jonothon Starsmore. There were more nametags in a far corner on the floor, and Jubilee noticed at once that everyone there was deceased, including her former teammates Angelo Espinosa and Everett Thomas. She teared up after finding one at the bottom of the pile for their former teacher Sean Cassidy, labeled "Papa Sean" and decorated with a doodle of a four-leaf clover.

There was no time to discuss the nametags: as soon as Claudette finished with them, she returned to the table and began writing furiously on a fresh sheet of paper.

"Nicole, is this behavior normal for Claudette?" Illyana asked, wondering if this was something they should come to expect routinely.

"No way," Nicole answered. "She's never done this before. I mean, she writes things occasionally, but she's never labeled people like this." She moved to the table and lightly touched Claudette's shoulder.

Claudette immediately dropped her pencil and thrust the paper into Nicole's hands.

Nicole read the paper, frowned, and looked at Claudette, who was now staring at the table, apparently done with her burst of inspiration. "Okay, I guess she's finished. Now we can try and figure out what this means." She turned around and displayed the paper to the group, which simply had the word "academy" printed on it over and over again.

"The Massachusetts Academy?" Jubilee guessed. "But that's still closed, last I heard."

"I agree it's the most likely meaning," Nicole replied. "But most likely doesn't necessarily mean anything in Claudette's world. We've been to a number of academies, and while that is the one we were at the longest, she could mean any of them. Or one she only heard of in passing. Or she might just mean something that sounds like the word, or is spelled similarly." She sighed and gave them a weary smile. "I told you, it's a challenge understanding her, but I promise it's so worth it when the message finally clicks."

"Would it be out of the question to contact someone who would know the status of the Massachusetts Academy?" Illyana wondered aloud.

Jubilee flinched. "Guess not, but that would mean calling Frosty. Do we really have to?"

"This might be important," Nicole insisted. "I could do it, tell her I was thinking of coming back."

"I think she can detect lies over the phone. Or in your voice. Or she always gave that impression. But it could've been an act. I don't think so, though."

"Oh, honestly," Illyana groaned, "I'll do it. Everyone already knows I lie."

* * *

Emma Frost felt the bed shift as her lover Scott Summers sat up to answer the phone, but she didn't bother rising with him. It was early, and the phone was probably for him. The few people who did have her personal number knew better than to call at this hour. Any matter of lesser importance would have been forwarded to Utopia's call center, anyway.

After a long pause, Scott turned to her and said, "Emma. Phone's for you."

"Darling, unless it's someone calling to tell me that one of my bank accounts has tripled, then no, it isn't."

"It's Illyana. She has an interesting question for you, which also explains the rather angry yet cryptic phone call we received from Monet an hour ago."

Emma blinked and slowly accepted the phone from him. "Hello, Illyana. Emma Frost speaking."

"Hello, Miss Frost. Sorry to call so early," Illyana greeted, though she sounded more amused than anything else.

"Somehow I doubt that. What was your question?"

"An autistic child who once attended the Massachusetts Academy years later repeatedly writes the word 'academy' on a sheet of paper. What conclusion would you draw from this?"

Emma made the connection rather quickly. "Just tell me you didn't kidnap Claudette, as Monet seems to think you have."

"Perish the thought. Assuming you accept that Nicole speaks for them both, they are here of their own free will and have expressed no interest in going home. The moment that changes, I will personally deposit them at their front door myself."

Shaking her head, Emma decided not to ask for details. "Fine. Then I would assume that Claudette wants to tell you something, but unfortunately, I have no idea what. The Academy is closed, and there are no plans to reopen it."

"Too many bad memories?" Illyana asked at once, what sounded suspiciously like true sympathy in her tone. "I can relate."

"...at any rate, if Nicole has no ideas on this, four options spring to mind. First, you could put aside whatever issue there is with Monet long enough to pick her brain. Second, I could send someone out to open up the Academy for you. I would prefer you didn't simply break in if you insist on investigating. Third, you could hope that Claudette eventually clarifies the message, but I would be shocked if she did."

"I feel the same way," Illyana agreed. "And the last option?"

Emma hesitated, wondering if it was a shot in the dark. "How familiar are you with Claudette's history?"

"Which part of it? The autism, Emplate, her time posing as Monet?"

"Actually, I was referring to the period she and Nicole spent trapped in the body of Penance."

"I've been given the highlights. Why would that have anything to do with this?"

"Because of where Penance currently is. She's a student at Avengers Academy. Though if you want to get your foot in the door there, Logan would be your best bet."

After Emma hung up, she thought for a moment, then turned to Scott, who was looking at her expectantly. "I have an idea," she said.

"About why the twins haven't gone home yet?"

"What? Oh, that. Of course I know that: to them, Jubilee is tons of fun and Monet isn't. No, I meant I have an idea about Claudette. Tell Dani Moonstar I want to borrow one of her people. Specifically, Douglas Ramsey."

Scott blinked. "You want our resident language expert to work with an autistic teenager that doesn't speak?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Calling him a 'language expert' cheapens his enormous gift, and assuming Claudette can't or isn't speaking is a common mistake. She can write, and she can make herself understood. Her ability to do both may be limited, but Nicole has so far been her only decent translator. Maybe Doug can fill in the blanks, and failing that, he should at least catch Claudette's meaning on the occasions when she does choose to move."

* * *

Illyana saw at once that the reactions to the news Penance's current whereabouts varied greatly. Nicole seemed excited, despite the fact that the twins were once prisoners in Penance's body. Claudette, predictably, did not react at all. Illyana herself was curious, but not overly optimistic that this was the right lead to follow. Both Jubilee and Piotr were hesitant about getting anywhere near a non-X team, given their current conditions.

While it was true that the Avengers and various X-teams had worked together in the past, the fact remained that the average Avenger was probably not kept up to date on all things X. Logan was both an Avenger and an X-Man, but that didn't mean he had briefed every Avenger on Jubilee's situation. In fact, it was far more likely that he had either informed a few or none of them, for fear of how they might react. It was usually difficult to tell which way someone would go on the vampire issue, no matter how long or well you'd known them. Logan certainly wasn't the type to go around blabbing that someone he thought of as a daughter was now a vampire, not unless he figured there was a very likely chance of her running into the Avengers.

"I think the only fair way to decide our next move is with a vote," Illyana announced. "Nicole, I hope we can trust you to relay Claudette's vote, and not just vote twice."

Nicole scowled at her. "It wouldn't matter, since she wants to go find Penance, too. Not that anyone would believe me or anything."

"I'm not crazy about the Avengers, but it would be great to see Penny again," Jubilee admitted. "I'd rather just have Wolvie with us when that happens."

"Then I guess the only thing we can do is call Logan and find out where he is," Piotr suggested. "Hopefully he isn't busy."

Illyana was about to point out that Logan was always busy to some extent, but she didn't get the chance. The floor suddenly dropped out from under her, and the next thing she knew, she was landing hard in grass. Thankfully, a quick glance showed that everyone else was still present, though more than a little confused as to what had happened. Almost everyone, at least.

"Claudette!" Nicole wailed. "How many times have I told you not to borrow friendly powers outside of combat without asking?!"

For her part, Claudette merely stared at her twin, though Illyana somehow got the distinct impression that Claudette resented being shouted at, and was soon proven correct.

Nicole sighed and gently hugged her sister. "I'm sorry, sweetie. You know I didn't mean to yell at you. But you really should have asked first. Didn't you just hear us talking about how we shouldn't go without Logan?"

Claudette turned and pointed further into the surrounding woods.

Nicole gaped at her. "What, really?"

"Uh, how about cutting us non-twins in on the conversation, guys?" Jubilee asked.

"Sorry," Nicole apologized. "Claudette really wants to find Penance. So she borrowed Illyana's power and brought us here."

"And here is?"

"Avengers Academy, or at least a few miles outside of it. She says Logan's here, too."

Jubilee exchanged looks with Illyana and Piotr. "Okay, seriously, how did she know that?!"

"I'm not sure. Maybe she can sense his mind and I can't," Nicole replied. "But we're here now. We might as well go find Logan."

"Sorry, but your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has to veto that idea, ladies and gentleman," said a voice above them.

Illyana was not surprised to see the white-suited Spider-Man hanging upside down above them, suspended from a nearby tree via a length of webbing. She hadn't had many encounters with him, assuming he was always the same man beneath the mask, but knew him to be fairly reasonable and a good friend of Logan's. "Any particular reason why?" she asked.

"Glad you asked instead of just trying to run off or teleport away," he replied, clearly having expected that. "We've got a pretty bad situation up at the Academy right now, and you five were probably about to walk right into it." He paused, taking in the surprised looks on their faces. "Huh. And I'm guessing you didn't know about that, which begs the question of why you are here in the first place."

"Looking for a friend," Jubilee explained. "We found out she's a student here. Her name's Penance."

"That sounds familiar. Quiet? Red, diamond-hard, razor-sharp skin? Shreds things like a mini-Wolverine when startled?"

Jubilee smirked. "Yeah, that's her. I take it you've met?"

"If by 'met' you mean she accidentally turned my favorite map of NYC into confetti, sure. Unfortunately, Penance isn't exactly at the Academy right now."

"Then where is she?" Piotr asked.

"If I knew that, I'd be tracking her down instead of stalling you guys. But the short answer is that she and another female student are missing, and they may or may not have been taken against their will."

"Penny's been kidnapped?" Jubilee asked in shock.

"I did say 'may or may not have been'," Spider-Man reminded her. "But I belong to the school of thinking that says you don't kidnap a girl with diamond-hard, razor-sharp skin, unless she wants you to or is extremely afraid of you, and I don't think either applied in this case. In fact, all signs point to Penny being extremely angry, and I think I know why. The other missing student is sort of a buddy of hers, or that's what I'm hoping."

Illyana found that curious. "You're not sure?"

Spider-Man shrugged. "I never saw them hanging out together around here, but maybe you guys would know better than me. The other missing student is our other favorite mini-Wolverine, Laura Kinney."

Jubilee gaped at him. "Laura's gone, too?! Okay, no way they both got kidnapped! The restraints and transport alone would cost more than a luxury home, and even if you could afford that, you'd have to have a major deathwish to piss both of them off at the same time!"

"...which is probably why we found a bunch of severely slashed guys in private military uniforms and lots of shredded, formerly high tech guns near the scene of the crime."

Jubilee blinked and relaxed considerably. "Oh. Well, so long as they're both okay."

Piotr stared at her incredulously. "Aren't you concerned that your two friends are missing?"

"I might be, if they were any two other friends. But from the sounds of it, they already dealt with these losers, and I'd bet anything that Wolvie is out there looking for them," Jubilee responded, getting an upside-down nod of confirmation from Spider-Man. "So if anything, I feel sorry for anyone who gets in his way. Nobody sane messes with Wolvie's kids."

"Great," Spider-Man chimed in. "So then you understand why I have to ask you all to come back to the Academy with me, right? I don't want to become the Spectacular Swiss Cheese Man if Wolverine finds out I let some of his other kids wander around and get shot or worse."

Jubilee sighed. "Yeah, okay. Guys, we'd better stick with Spidey for now. Most of us could probably survive getting shot, but it never gets fun, exactly."

"I don't remember my sister and I agreeing to be Wolverine's kids, but I guess that includes us, too?" Nicole asked.

Spider-Man looked at her and did a double take between her and Claudette. "Hey, you didn't get de-aged and cloned since the last time I saw you, did you?"

Nicole glared at him. "You met my older sister Monet."

"Really? Well, either way, you've got the same glare."

* * *

**Continued in Chapter 4: Two Little Wolverines**

The unlikely duo of X-23 and Penance band together to survive. But with Laura powerless and severely wounded, Penance will do anything to protect her, including lashing out with lethal force at the hand reaching out to help.

* * *

**Endnotes:**

_Penance is Penance, not... Hollow_

From what I can tell, the character once known as Generation X member Penance was renamed to "Hollow" only so the character known as Speedball could use that name. Oddly enough, he only used it temporarily, but once he was done, that left what I consider the "true" Penance stuck as Hollow. I feel this is wrong for three reasons:

1) She had the name first, and even if it was a nickname at best, it was still how most people knew her.

2) The name actually did suit her, both as Monet's punishment for laughing at Marius, and as Gateway possibly atoning for some wrong when he dropped her on Gen X's lawn.

3) The new name implies that she is hollow, which is clearly false: despite the theory that there should be no mind in the body, she's still walking around and very much alive. Apparently some writers hinted that there's a new "host" in the body. I had a different idea about that, myself...

_Claudette's Powers, Autism, Etc._

I have a little theory concerning Nicole, Claudette, and their telepathic powers. Basically, I think Nicole's specialty is offense, while Claudette's is more either defensive or passive. My only real reason for this is based on the assumption that when posing as the false Monet, Nicole's mind does all the talking, or is in control 90% of the time, with this shifting to Claudette any time that Monet becomes totally unresponsive (despite being in that state, she was able to generate enough psionic interference to prevent the Phalanx from absorbing her). I've only seen Claudette speak once, and I strongly suspect that was just a mistake, and the twins' names were just switched (meaning that it was actually Nicole talking, not Claudette). Which overwhelmingly suggests that one of Claudette's symptoms is not speaking aloud at all. This would also mean that anytime the false Monet referred to her troubled medical history, it was really just Nicole giving voice to it. This isn't surprising, since apparently each time one or more of the St. Croix siblings combine, their secrets are exposed to each other.

Anyway, the few times Claudette has done something notable, it's always non-violent and, I suspect, either beyond Nicole's ability to do, or simply outside of Nicole's way of thinking. The false Monet's quick temper, especially in early issues, seems very much like Nicole's impulsive nature. I can't blame her, she had a massive secret to protect, and part of that may have just been her acting as she thought Monet would. But the implication has always been that anytime Claudette is controlling a body, it basically does the same thing she does in her own body: stare. Actually, she rarely expressed anything at all. Maybe that was done on purpose to indicate the severity of her autism, as she was described as being in her own world inside her head, and rarely interacting with anyone else. But I always felt that even offering a larger peek into the way Claudette thinks, feels, or communicates would have been far more fascinating than some of the later storylines in Gen X. Though I now suspect that her autism, and more importantly, Claudette herself, was never going to be focused on beyond explaining the mystery around the St. Croix family's history.

So while I'm going to attempt to stay true to the little I've seen of the character, at the same time I am also assuming that despite her autism, as she gets older, Claudette will both gradually gain access to additional abilities, and become more versatile with the ones she already has. This will not include a miracle cure to her autism, as it is such a major part of the character, but I see no reason not to give a voice to the voiceless. And considering how much she's been through, and how much her sisters talk, how long she's been left out of all the action for years, I'm sure Claudette has quite a bit to say.


	4. Two Little Wolverines

Notes: While I have a fairly clear vision of where I want the story to end up, the chapters themselves seem to keep getting longer. But this should all wrap up within six or seven chapters, total. Probably.

* * *

**Monsters Like Us**

**An X-Men Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 4: Two Little Wolverines**

* * *

Nowhere was safe. Not for long, and certainly not for long enough.

It was a lesson that Laura Kinney had been forced to learn over and over again in her life. Of course, until recently, her life had merely been one mission after another, and the concept of truly living, or how she kept herself occupied between missions, was still rather new to her.

She feared it would always be that way. When one had been trained to kill largely from birth, it was extremely difficult to find a way to stop.

To her credit, Laura had tried, and was still trying. About the best she had done was to force herself to evaluate each and every kill. Was it worth it? Was there an easier way? Would those close to her approve if they knew?

She was no longer the mindless killing machine she had been. Or at least, she could turn the machine's switch on and off, but still not always at will. That had to be worth something. At least, she desperately hoped so.

But no matter how much Laura had changed, some parts of the world she knew never would.

Everywhere she went, there were so many expectations of her, and she rarely ever lived up to them. Even at Avengers Academy, she had either been constantly overestimated or grossly underrated. Some people had expected another Wolverine, which she simply wasn't and never would be. Others had thought her a lost child, and got a rude awakening when she showed them just how mature and world-weary she was. But she had eventually been accepted, or embraced as much as one such as her could be in a school environment.

Laura had found that trying to fit in often made her stick out more, so she hadn't tried that. Instead, she'd done what Logan was always suggesting, and tried to fill her empty life with happy memories. It was difficult, with most of the friends she'd made in other places. That, more than anything else, was what made Avengers Academy simply a school to her, and not a home. And really, there was only so much they could someone like teach her that she hadn't already learned from Logan and Gambit.

It was admittedly a nice distraction, for a while. But in the back of her mind, Laura hadn't expected it to last. So when the end finally came for in a hail of gunfire, she hadn't been surprised, only resigned.

* * *

The girl called Penance had accepted the name given to her largely because she thought she deserved it. Surely, she figured, she must have done something horrible at some point to deserve such a cursed form, and her current miserable existence was a way of setting things right again. All of her memories were jumbled and fragmented, both because her body had not always been her own, and because her body itself was designed to imprison her.

There were some things she had come to accept as hard facts, if only because repeated lessons had taught her as much.

First and foremost, Emplate was the monster that had created her, and despite the weak connection she still felt between them, she would hate him forever. Every memory of him was coated in hatred, fear, and pain, and for the longest time, the idea of killing him had had brought her great joy and righteous fury. Now the thought of his death only made her feel empty, but it was still a sensation she would welcome in exchange for the certainty that he was dead.

Penance had found that she also still held connections to each and every one of her former prisoners, though suspected they were not aware of this fact. At times, she would receive a flash of memory or sensation that was not related to anything around her, followed by a certain presence that was distinct to each girl. It was a very strange feeling, to know that there had once been people inside of her, and at first she had hated the very notion of it. But she had eventually realized that they had hated the experience, and her to some extent, just as much. Yet for no reason that she could explain, she had abruptly come to love them. Whatever caused her to do so, it felt stronger than any other instinct she had, stronger even than her loathing for Emplate. Despite the fact that being near the girls at times caused her such pain that she raked her own face with her claws, she loved them, with such need that it often frightened her. But she had seen that her presence was disturbing to them, and the thought of troubling them had hurt her so badly. It was what had ultimately driven her away from them, much as she now regretted that decision.

Avengers Academy had seemed a blessing, at first. It reminded her so much of her time with Generation X, where she had been truly happy. But the faces were different, and the bonds were not the same. She considered running away many times, but one thing and one thing only prevented her.

Penance still remembered what it was like to be part of a team. She treasured and missed being responsible for others, having loyal friends count on her. Her body had made it nearly impossible for her to wear any team symbol, so she had instead made a point to commit them to memory, difficult as that could prove to be for her at times. She had spent so many days in Generation X's Bio-Sphere simply scratching trees and rocks, trying to make it impossible for her to forget their symbol and where she belonged.

And just when Penance was about to leave Avengers Academy (and their circled A) behind, someone had appeared wearing her old team's symbol, after so very long. She had never seen Laura Kinney before then, and had known nothing about her, but that hadn't mattered. All Penance could see was the circled X high on Laura's chest, and she knew she was home again. She would stay as long as Laura did, she decided then and there. Because X-Men helped each other, and it wouldn't do to leave one alone and without help. Laura gave no sign that she felt the same way, but that was of no concern to Penance. Laura wouldn't have gotten to wear the X if she wasn't worthy of it.

* * *

It was supposed to be a simple operation: in and out with the target.

Turner had agreed to it less because of the supposed simplicity, and more because part of him liked seeing hush-hush government ops blow up in everyone's faces. Another part of him had three distinct claw marks running down his calf, and he'd been itching for a chance at some revenge ever since. It didn't matter that this target wasn't the one responsible. All that mattered was that they were similar enough, so he'd been hoping for something to go wrong. Just so he could put a round of bullets in her head and see if that slowed her down.

It had only made her predecessor angrier, so Turner wasn't entirely confident in the results.

The canister of tear gas they'd been supplied with was supposed to be special stuff, tailor-made for the target. Turner hadn't really believed that, either. But he was field commander on this op, and he wasn't about to let the gas go to waste. It was expensive to make, so he'd been told, but worth it to take the target down without a fight. He agreed to use it only because he'd figured it wouldn't work. The mission's success was based entirely on a gas that hadn't been field-tested yet, so nobody could really blame him if he threw everything else they had at the target afterward. Maybe it would be enough to hurt her long enough for them to permanently cripple her, or at least to permanently cripple anyone else.

It was supposed to be a simple operation. It even started out that way. Everything was going perfectly. The tear gas even worked exactly as it was supposed to, and put the target down without a fight.

Then when Jamison reached out to collect the target, the red demon came out of nowhere and cut off his hand at the wrist, and everything went to hell from there.

* * *

There was talk of possibly having a father-daughter breakfast. Nothing major, since not every student had a father (or was a daughter). Just a small little gathering for the fortunate few. Laura had only signed up because it was strongly suggested that she do so, and because they needed at least a couple of pairs registered to get the ball rolling.

But hours later, she wondered if she'd made a huge mistake.

Everyone expected her to invite Logan, of course. She'd actually had him in mind when she signed up. Biologically, she wasn't going to get any closer to a father. But emotionally, it didn't feel completely right, not when there was still Gambit to consider.

On some level, she did think of Logan as her father. The similarities were certainly all there. He might even be pleased to be invited. But in those awkward pauses where people might give them funny looks, he would probably growl. This didn't bother her, but she was becoming increasingly aware that it wasn't considered polite, which only made her feel more awkward. She mostly used flat looks instead, but even those were apparently frowned on, or at least hers were. Apparently they frightened many small children and more than a few adults.

Gambit, on the other hand, was a people person. He would smile, he would make jokes, he would do card tricks, and basically charm and entertain anyone who came near them. Laura felt he was exactly the type of person one might expect to see at such an event. He would be an excellent choice, if she wanted to make a good showing. Which she did.

But she still wanted to bring Logan.

That was the choice Laura had been turning over in her mind when she'd wandered outside. It wasn't against the rules, as she was still on school grounds, and she often went for walks at night in an attempt to clear her head. It only worked sometimes, but she was used to being alone, and figured no one would bother her.

Possibly that was why it took so long for her to realize that she was surrounded, even if the ones doing so weren't in plain sight yet. She said nothing, but slowly unsheathed her claws and crouched slightly, ready to spring in any direction needed.

"Surrender and we won't go after the other students, X-23," one of the men ordered.

Laura paused, not having considered that. Still, she figured if the men were primarily there for her, the odds of them having a range of weaponry that could deal with the entire student body was slim to none. Most likely their gear and tactics were customized solely for her, and they were simply bluffing. Besides, even if they somehow managed to overcome her, odds were either Logan or Gambit or both would track her down sooner rather than later.

Before she could refuse the ultimatum, a small, familiar-looking canister landed at her feet and split open, emitting a thick, orange-colored gas. Laura almost laughed. Were they really so stupid as to use a trigger scent on her? The very thing that sent her into unstoppable, murderous rages? It was almost like they wanted her to kill them.

But as the gas drifted into her nostrils, Laura immediately realized that she was wrong. It was a trigger scent, but no kind that she'd ever encountered before. Instead of blanketing her mind in a killing rage, this scent made her limbs feel heavy, useless, and weak. Before she knew it, she was on all fours, struggling to move. Her head felt like it weighed a ton, and the strong odor was blocking any useful information that her nose could provide.

"Looks like the gas did the trick, boys," the same man said approvingly. "Grab her."

Laura managed to take an uneasy swipe at the first man to approach her, but missed and landed flat on her face, panting harshly. Her body couldn't seem to keep up with all the desperate commands that her brain was sending it. Worse, her healing factor was doing nothing to rid her body of the gas and its effects.

She was helpless, and they were going to capture her without a fight. Laura was torn between being outraged and humiliated.

But then as one of the men reached for her extended arm, he suddenly began to scream.

Laura looked up and saw why, clearly: someone had lopped off his hand at the wrist. It looked quite painful. She hoped it was.

Then screams and blood filled the air, and guns thundered. Laura thought about trying to move away, but suddenly her mind was overwhelmed by pain. Though the men were aiming at whoever was attacking them, several had still managed to hit her. One of the bullets had torn through her arm, a few more through her midsection. Laura noticed with growing alarm that the wounds weren't healing at all. This only confirmed that in addition to making her feel like crap, the gas had somehow negated her healing factor. These men had clearly come prepared. No, worse than that: someone had prepared them. Someone who knew her far too well.

Suddenly, the guns stopped, and an eerie silence fell.

Laura twisted her head around as best she could, and the blood drained from her face when she saw her rescuer.

Crouching a few feet away, her red skin bathed in blood, was Penance. Though Laura was sure she had to have been shot several times, there wasn't a single mark on her. And for some reason, her furious blue eyes were locked on Laura.

Laura hadn't spoken to Penance the entire time they'd been at Avengers Academy together. Mostly it was because Laura tended to avoid strangers when possible, but some of it was definitely because Penance either couldn't or didn't talk, and tended to shred anything nearby if she experienced something she wasn't expecting or pleased with. It only made sense that she hadn't expected a group of armed men to attack the school. Unfortunately, Laura seemed to be the only living thing left to shred, and Penance had clearly noticed this.

Neither of them moved for a long moment. Penance didn't seem to even be breathing, and Laura could relate: she was holding her breath in case that spooked the girl and set her off.

Finally, Penance moved.

Laura tensed for an attack, knowing she couldn't defend herself.

But Penance didn't attack. Instead, she did the last thing that Laura was expecting. The red girl came closer until she was just in front of Laura, stretched out a single, razor-sharp finger, and began to draw a shape in the dirt. It didn't take long, and when she was done, Laura could only let out a sound that was part laugh, part sob, and all relief.

Penance had drawn an X within a circle, the same symbol that nearly every man, woman, and child who had dared to fight for Charles Xavier's dream had worn at one point or another, whether they knew the man or the dream at all. It didn't matter how Penance knew the symbol, or why no one had told Laura she would know it. All that mattered was that Laura had found a fellow X-Man in the last place she'd expected to, and she couldn't have been happier.

* * *

"We totally need a cool video phone like this one," Nicole demanded. "I want to be able to see people's expressions when I tell them we're not home."

On the screen just in front of her, sitting at a terminal in Utopia's call center, Monet frowned. "Really, Nicole. Are you honestly going to pretend that you didn't run away from home and take poor Claudette with you?"

"I did no such thing. I ran away from _you_. If you stay away from the house, I'd be perfectly happy to come back and pick up a few things. Claudette misses her paint set. Look, she's been reduced to working with biscuits and jelly. It's both demeaning and delicious, but it's still all your fault."

Monet glanced over Nicole's shoulder into one of the phone rooms at Avengers Academy. Her frown deepened when Claudette held up a plate that contained an extremely life-like representation of Monet frowning, made out of grape jelly stains and biscuit crumbs. "You shouldn't be abusing your phone privileges like this, Nicole."

Nicole shook her head. "I'm not abusing anything. Peter made me call you. _That's_ abuse, as far as I'm concerned. You're not even sorry for what you said to Jubilee, are you?"

"Is she sorry for what she said about Marius?"

"Probably not. But since it was all true, I don't see what difference it makes."

Monet looked shocked. "Nicole, how can you say that? Aren't you the one that used to constantly remind me that he was still our brother when I wrote him off?"

"Yes, I was. I'll always love Marius. But Emplate stopped being Marius a long time ago, and shows no sign of turning back. I'll never forget about him, but I can't forgive what he's done, not until he shows some real remorse. Claudette feels the same way."

"You're making that up!"

"I'm not, either. Or did you forget which of us has a near-constant telepathic rapport with Claudette? And I would never lie about her communicating with me! I'm offended that you would even accuse me of that, Monet. That's one more thing you need to apologize for. I'm going to need to start keeping a list at this rate, you know."

Monet stopped herself from answering with something she would likely regret. Instead, she composed herself and cleared her throat. "Nicole, we always fight, and we always work things out. This time is no different. I didn't pick up the phone because I wanted to argue. I want you both to come home."

"No," Nicole said simply.

"Please, Nicole. I know you're angry, but don't punish Claudette just to spite me. She requires care that you can't give her."

"A few years ago, that was true," Nicole agreed. "But she's stronger than you know, Monet. We both are, and we'll prove that if we have to."

"You don't know what you're saying! You're both only children who-"

"We're not children anymore, and you're not our mother!" Nicole shouted angrily.

"I'm the only mother you've had since Marius took her away from us!" Monet snapped back.

"Then you're doing a pretty lousy job, if your kids would rather run away than be with you!"

Monet froze. Behind her, so did every other occupant in Utopia's call center, just before they collapsed bonelessly to the floor.

Nicole's eyes widened. "Monet, what did you just do?" she asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

Monet blinked very slowly. "Widespread psi-bolts. Purely accidental. It can happen when I'm extremely upset." She took a deep breath and shook her head slightly, seeming to return to her senses. "Nicole. You know that I love you both very much. I'm simply asking that you come home so that we can discuss this calmly, like adults. That's not unreasonable, is it?"

"No, it isn't," Nicole admitted hesitantly. "But you're missing my point, Monet. What you said hurt Jubilee, and you still don't know why she came to visit. She needed our help, and because of what you said, she was ready to leave without even asking for it. That's no way to treat our friend."

For several seconds, Monet stared at the screen. Then she asked softly, "You won't come home, then?"

"No. Not yet, at least. We really do love you, Monet, but this is important to us. Jubilee is important to us. We can't-" Nicole trailed off abruptly when Claudette firmly prodded her shoulder. Nicole glanced at her twin, frowned, and sighed heavily. "Um, Monet. About what I said before? I didn't mean to... um, that is... you're not a... bad mom, or anything. I didn't mean it that way, honest! It's just-"

"It's okay, Nicole," Monet interrupted, glancing to the left. "I forgive you. But I have to go now."

"What? Where?" Nicole asked.

"Danger has informed me that Marius is awake now. I'm only allowed a few minutes to see him, so I can't waste them."

"You... you're visiting Marius?" Nicole asked in shock.

"Yes," Monet replied. "Clearly I've made many mistakes, if you would rather be anywhere else than with me. Marius has always taken great joy in pointing out my many flaws. Surely he'll have some insight on where I went wrong with you two. We'll finish this later, Nicole. Take good care of Claudette."

"Monet, no!" Nicole cried. "You can't listen to him! All he'll do is tear you down and lie!"

"Nothing he can say could possibly hurt me worse than you already have, Nicole," Monet pointed out with a pained smile before hanging up.

Nicole stared at the now blank screen before turning slowly to Claudette. "Oh, Claudette, what have we done? She was so upset about us leaving that she actually went to visit Marius. Maybe we made a huge mistake."

In reply, Claudette extended the fingers of her right hand, releasing a small pyrotechnics display.

"Of course, you're right. We promised Jubilee, and we need to find Penance. But maybe we should have given Monet a chance to be included. Maybe she would have come around, eventually. Maybe if we'd only threatened to run away instead of actually doing it, she'd have given in. She must feel like we abandoned her, and after all she's been through, that's the absolute worst thing we could have done to her."

Claudette had no answer that could reassure her twin, but she didn't really need one. Instead, she hugged Nicole, kissed her cheek, and didn't let go until Nicole was ready for her to.

"We should get back to the others," Nicole murmured eventually. "Maybe there's news on Penance and Laura."

Claudette nodded, taking Nicole's hand and following her out of the room. Just outside, they ran into Piotr, who had been waiting for them.

"I have some bad news," he told them. "There are more armed men somewhere nearby. Logan called in to report that he found one of their empty transport vehicles."

"Is there any good news?" Nicole asked.

"Yes. It looks like Penance got to the vehicle's tires first, so the men definitely won't be using it to escape."

"So you're telling us we have to wait some more?"

He had opened his mouth to answer when Claudette abruptly released Nicole's hand, grabbed Piotr's, and gave her twin a super-powered shove that sent her flying down the hallway. By the time Nicole thought to stop herself, Claudette and a very surprised Piotr had dropped out of sight, via one of Illyana's portals. Though Nicole had a pretty good idea of where Claudette was taking Piotr, she did not try to follow them. Not because she had faith, but because through that single touch, Claudette had made a request of her, and it was to wait, no matter what. Ignoring that request and going after them would only upset Claudette and prove that Nicole didn't trust her. But Nicole suddenly had a very good idea of how Monet felt, and made a promise to herself that she would never again leave one of her sisters behind without an excellent reason.

* * *

The trail was obvious and easy to follow, even for a novice tracker. For an experienced tracker like Logan, it was less a trail and more a series of landmarks than anything else. But there was still plenty about it that bothered him.

First and foremost, the trail he was following was the scent of Laura's sweat and blood. There was an additional blood scent, and a curious stench of death that Logan couldn't really account for. Penance didn't seem to have a scent at all, but it was pretty much impossible to miss the sharp gouges in the dirt that her feet left. In fact, they were far deeper than Logan would have expected for a girl her size. Almost like she was carrying something heavy. He dismissed the idea that Penance might be carrying Laura immediately: anything living thing that Penance touched would have bled out extremely quickly, and Penance at least knew better than to touch any comrade that way. Still, the total absence of Laura's footprints was alarming, though the absence of her blood (and yet the scent of it) was both confusing and comforting.

Finding the wrecked transport had been a small relief: it proved that Penance was still in fighting shape, if nothing else. But Penance's footprints had become even deeper after that point, and Laura's scent even stronger. It meant that Logan was catching up with them. Maybe Penance was tiring, or maybe she'd taken something from the transport, but she had sacrificed some speed to do it.

When Logan finally spotted them, he nearly mistook them for some misshapen creature roaming the forest. But then he realized that Penance and Laura were far smarter than he'd given either credit for. Penance hadn't been able to touch Laura safely, but she had been determined to move her. Laura must have fashioned a harness from several of the dead troopers' belts tied together, but that still would have meant dragging her through the forest. To prevent that, Laura had strapped herself to a dead trooper, and somehow managed to strap him to Penance's back. The end result was that Penance had carried Laura and the dead man for miles, unintentionally shredding his corpse plenty with her razor-sharp hair along the way, but keeping Laura untouched. Laura had even managed to pull another trooper's clothes over her own, and tied several of their shirts around her bleeding midsection. Her face was far too pale and she was clearly unconscious, but she still had a death-grip on the rifle in her hands.

Logan didn't want to startle them, but Penance whipped around the moment she caught his scent, her blue eyes narrowed. He could see weariness and frustration in them, but more than that, determination and not a hint of recognition. "Take it easy, kid," he said softly. "Nobody's gonna hurt you."

Penance backed up slowly, hesitated, and then slashed the belts around her waist. Laura and the dead man slid slowly from her back, landing with a meaty thump. The impact jostled Laura but didn't wake her, and Logan cursed his rotten luck. Laura would know him. Penance didn't, and she was ready to fight him to protect Laura. It was too much to hope that she'd remember the one time they'd met at the Massachusetts Academy, and from what he'd heard, she probably couldn't rely on her memories, anyway. He didn't want to fight her, but Laura was hurt bad, and not healing for some reason.

"I just need to check on Laura, kid," Logan said slowly. He took a slow step forward, and then another.

Penance lunged at him with claws extended, and if he hadn't been expecting it, she might have driven all ten fingers into his chest. Instead, his boot caught her full in the stomach, thankfully where the black restraints she always wore covered her body. She fell back a few paces, startled but not even winded.

Logan didn't press the attack, giving her a chance to back down. But while Penance didn't attack again, she kept herself planted firmly between he and Laura.

He suddenly remembered the mark he'd found earlier, thinking it might be his only chance. Extending one claw slowly from his hand, he carefully drew a circle with an X in it on the ground, then pointed at himself, Penance, and Laura in succession.

Though he was sure that Penance knew what he was saying, she didn't look convinced. Sure enough, she tapped the mark, and pointed at Laura and herself, but not at him. But what she did next told him all that he needed to know. Beside his mark, she drew another circle with an A inside it. She tapped it forcefully, pointed firmly at him, then slashed the circled A with her claws.

Logan would have laughed if the situation weren't so serious. And he had to admit she was right: the Avengers had failed to protect Laura, so she no longer trusted them to. But the trouble was that she was including him on that list, as well. What he needed was someone she would know and immediately identify as an X-Man. But that would likely have to be one of her former Generation X teammates. Still, in the time it would take to get any of the surviving ones there, Laura could die. Maybe Penance knew that and maybe she didn't, but he knew something she would understand.

He pulled up his shirt. Using his extended claw, he stabbed himself in the stomach, startling Penance rather badly. But as she looked on, he withdrew the claw. Blood flowed, but it quickly slowed to a trickle, and then stopped altogether as the wound closed up. He pointed at his stomach, then at Laura's.

Penance stared at him for a long moment, then swiftly moved over to Laura, using her claws to carefully cut away the layers of clothing covering the bullet wounds.

Logan slowly moved closer until Penance gave him a warning look and flashed her claws at him. "If you're trying to scare me, kid, it won't work." He blinked when Penance repeated the motion, this time jabbing sharply at his stomach, and then pointing at Laura. "Well, I've had worse ideas that worked. Let's try it out."

* * *

"I have to say, you X-Kids take your friends and relatives going missing pretty well," Spider-Man commented as he passed out sandwiches.

Illyana, Nicole, and Jubilee were all spread around the break room, relaxing in webbing hammocks that had admittedly been his idea, as well as an effort to keep them calm. But they all seemed far more relaxed than what he'd expected.

"We have experience in these things," Illyana confirmed. "And there really isn't much to worry about. Peter was difficult to harm even before he became the Juggernaut, and if Nicole isn't worried about her twin, I see no reason to be, either. Besides, I can't think of a safer place for any sister than at my brother's side. He's that kind of person."

"Stupidly heroic?" Spider-Man guessed, with a pretty good idea that Illyana would agree.

"That's the type."

"Hey, Petey isn't stupid," Jubilee said at once, though she was clearly so comfortable in her hammock that it sounded more like a half-hearted suggestion than an actual complaint.

"Of course not. But he would save anyone, anywhere, anytime, for free, even if he was otherwise occupied."

Jubilee considered this for all of three seconds. "I respectfully withdraw my objection."

"I thought you might. But thank you for defending him. It was... sweet."

Though he wasn't really an expert in such things, Spider-Man strongly suspected that Illyana had chosen her words carefully, just to make Jubilee blush and shift uncomfortably in her hammock. That she succeeded made him wonder if Jubilee was aware of just how easily Illyana had manipulated her. It also confirmed something he'd suspected from the start.

"I'd bet anything that you're the boss," he said, pointing at Illyana. "Which makes you the bubbly sidekick," he added, pointing at Jubilee. "Colossus is clearly the muscle. That leaves this one as... um, the one who falls asleep at inappropriate times?" he asked, pointing at Nicole, who certainly gave all the outward appearances of being asleep. "How could she be asleep? It's like she has no respect for witty banter. Supervillains must hate her."

Illyana glanced in Nicole's direction. "She's either asleep or doing an excellent job of convincing us she is, while actually carrying on a clandestine telepathic conversation with her twin."

Spider-Man stared at Illyana. "Well, that's not the least bit weird or suspicious at all."

Jubilee shook her head. "Take it from me, Spidey. Secret telepathic talks are pretty much standard for us. It doesn't count as weird unless someone melts or spontaneously combusts. And only then if it isn't their power in the first place."

"I'm almost positive I don't want to know how that became a rule."

* * *

The moment Piotr was sure that he and Claudette were back in the same stretch of woods she'd taken them to previously, he began to wonder if they had missed something the first time. Still, the more pressing issue was that he had no real way of communicating effectively with Claudette. He was positive now that she could hear him, but how much information she actually took in and understood was debatable, especially since she and Nicole seemed to have a certain disregard for obeying rules. So he could never really be sure if Claudette was unable to understand, or simply unwilling to comply.

Claudette, of course, gave no sign of being concerned about their situation. In fact, she still had a firm grasp on his hand, and was staring straight ahead as she usually did.

Piotr was more than a little shocked when a familiar voice spoke into his head.

"Can you hear me, Peter?"

"I... Claudette?" he whispered in disbelief, staring at her. "Is that you?"

"No, silly! It's Nicole," the voice said, laughing. "I'm just talking to you through Claudette."

Piotr glanced at Claudette, who still hadn't reacted to being a conduit for the telepathic conversation. "But... how?"

"Remember how I told you that Claudette can imprint powers on herself and others? That includes my telepathy. Trust me, if she were using hers, this conversation would sound totally different. Well, I'm not really sure what it would sound like to you, but I'm pretty sure you'd be totally lost."

"Then can you ask her to take me back?"

"Sure, but not just yet," Nicole replied. "She took you out there for a reason. Don't you want to know why?"

"The thought definitely crossed my mind, yes."

"She's going to find Penance, and we hope you're willing to be her mutant shield if needed."

Piotr considered that for a moment. "I don't mind. Are you expecting Penance to attack?"

"No, but she does tend to do that when she's surprised or angry. I'm pretty sure she'll be surprised to see Claudette and a big steel man. Oh, and just so you know, Claudette can only imprint one power at a time, and they're usually temporary. So if she's using another one, remember that I won't be able to talk to you while she's doing it. You'll have to wait until she's done and imprints my telepathy again. And depending on the power, she may need to be within a certain distance of the person it belongs to in order to use it. But keep in mind that's not always true. Some of them she's managed to imprint simply from memory. But again, only sometimes."

"That seems rather excessive."

"It is, but we don't want to risk her losing Jubilee's power, so it's the safest way. That's why it's important that you be Claudette's shield, rather than her imprinting your power."

"Then you knew she would do this beforehand?"

"No, actually. But she's my twin. It wasn't hard to guess what she was up to, and it's not like she tried to hide it from me. Now, once Claudette gets a lock on Laura, she'll take you straight there. I don't know how much good it will do to say this, but Claudette does actually know what she's doing. Of course, if you suspect that she's slipped into a catatonic stupor at a crucial time, I'll thank you to pull her out of there."

Piotr took another glance at Claudette, who still hadn't moved. "Nicole, I don't suppose there's any chance you could tell me how to differentiate between when she's in a stupor, and when she isn't?"

There was a short pause. "Oh, right. I forgot I won't actually be there to help you with that. All I can really say is stay close to her. She won't mind that since it's you. Oh, looks like she's found them. Good luck!"

The connection ended abruptly, and the only warning Piotr got was Claudette squeezing his hand before a portal opened in front of them. Remembering Nicole's warning, Piotr shifted to his steel form and picked up Claudette, cradling her in one large arm as if she were a child. He paused, waiting to see if she would object, but she merely rested her head against his chest. Taking a deep breath, Piotr stepped through the portal, emerging on the other side just in time to see Penance ripping her claws out of Logan's stomach and spilling his blood all over an unconscious Laura. There was a dead trooper not too far away, but as his face was a gory mess, and he was very much dead, Piotr wasn't too concerned about him.

"This ain't what it looks like, Pete," Logan said at once, his voice slightly strained.

Piotr got the immediate impression that they'd been at this for some time. "It looks like you're dropping your blood on Laura in the hopes that your healing factor will jump-start hers."

Logan stared at him blankly. "Okay, in that case, it's exactly what it looks like."

"Is it working?"

"Nope."

"But you haven't stopped trying."

"Nope."

Claudette suddenly hopped out of Piotr's grasp and took several steps forward.

Penance immediately reacted badly, lunging straight at her.

Piotr and Logan were faster, both grabbing their respective charges. Logan got the worse bargain, having to grab Penance's feet with his bare hands and slam her into the ground, though Piotr knew his hands would begin healing at once. The impact was jarring enough where Penance had to pause momentarily and get her bearings. It was then that she got a good look at Claudette and froze.

Gently pushing Piotr's arm away, Claudette knelt on the ground and slowly crawled toward Penance. The two stared at each other for an endless moment, and then Claudette almost doubled in size as she imprinted Piotr's power onto herself, her brown skin instantly replaced with organic steel. And though Piotr knew what would follow was arguably safe, he still flinched when Claudette's silver hand reached out and gently touched Penance's fingers.

Penance didn't move, possibly fearing she could still injure Claudette, but she did close her eyes when Claudette came even closer and briefly kissed her forehead.

Claudette touched Penance's hand once more before moving past her to examine Laura. Penance made no attempt to stop her, but she did follow behind Claudette, giving Piotr the impression of a rather deadly guard dog.

Logan glanced between the two girls, and then at Piotr as he joined them. "Can she help, Pete?" was all he asked.

"I hope so, Logan," was all Piotr would commit to.

Claudette stared at Laura for almost a full minute. Then she blinked, shifted back to her human form, and abruptly dropped into a portal, vanishing from sight.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Logan asked, sounding both surprised and annoyed.

By the time Piotr opened his mouth to answer, Claudette had emerged from another portal between them, this time leading her older sister Monet by the hand.

Logan simply gave up hoping for an explanation at that point, and decided to save some valuable time. "Laura's healing factor isn't working."

"Why isn't it working?" Monet asked at once.

"They did something to her. Gas, probably."

That seemed to surprise Monet. "And Claudette couldn't fix that?"

Logan glared at her. "Obviously not, if she went to get you."

"I see." Monet carefully took Claudette's face in her hands and touched their foreheads together. "I know you know this one, Claudette. Vincente, remember?"

"What the hell's a Vincente?" Logan demanded.

Claudette's body became hazy, then transparent, and then dissolved entirely into into a brown gas, which hovered above Laura before flying up her nose.

"That is a Vincente," Monet answered. "Though from what I understand, the original version is far less pleasant and nowhere near as well-intentioned. We should know soon enough if it worked."

A few seconds later, Laura's eyes snapped open, and with a series of violent coughs, she expelled the brown gas, now tinted with orange, from her body and into the air. She began to shudder uncontrollably, and offered no resistance as Logan pulled her against his chest in a warm embrace.

"Easy now, Laura," he murmured soothingly. "I've got you."

"Logan?" she whispered. "I dreamed of you. We were... dancing?"

He blinked slowly at that and chuckled. "Sounds like a real blast, darlin'."

She gave him a shaky smile. "Really? You mean it?"

"Sure, I do. We'll go do that, you and me, just as soon as we get done hunting down the private army fool enough to mess with you."

Her smile became more like a predator's. "I'd like that." Laura carefully prodded her midsection with a finger, noting that it was now healing and no longer bleeding, or at least that the blood on it wasn't hers. Then she sniffed the blood on her finger and instantly realized where it came from. "Logan? You tried to save me?"

"Tried and failed," he answered, clearly uncomfortable about it. "Was a team effort, anyway. They all helped."

Laura glanced around the gathered group, but her gaze lingered on Penance. "You protected me. Thank you."

Penance nodded slightly, then trained her attention on the brownish-orange cloud still hovering just above them.

"Shouldn't Claudette have reformed by now?" Piotr asked, drawing everyone else's attention to it.

"That would be a supremely bad idea," Monet disagreed. "Whatever that gas is, it's still mixed in with her. If she were to return to her body, the gas would be inside of her. Maybe it wouldn't do to her what it did to Laura, but I can't imagine it would be pleasant."

"It's a trigger scent designed to disable me," Laura stated. "Originally, I was the only one they worked on. But later versions have proven effective on almost anyone. And for this one to be effective for as long as it was, it must be an even newer version."

Piotr frowned. "But as long as Claudette separates herself from it, she should be fine?"

"In theory," Monet said. "But if it's taking her this long, she may not be able to on her own. She didn't exactly have the opportunity to practice with this particular power."

"Then why did you suggest she use it?" Piotr snapped.

Monet gave him an irritated glance. "Because it was the only thing that would save Laura, and I knew Claudette could do that much without any help from me."

"That implies that you can do something to restore her."

"I would be happy to, if certain people would stop distracting me. It's difficult enough for me to communicate with her at all when there isn't someone interrupting. I would suggest you spend your time gathering as much data as you can on the would-be kidnappers, so that we might deal with them in a timely fashion." Monet turned and walked a few feet away, with the Claudette cloud and Penance following along behind her.

"Her attitude stinks, but she's got a point," Logan agreed, helping Laura to her feet. "Can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than tracking down the rest of these clowns. You in, Pete?"

Though Piotr could tell that Logan expected him to volunteer, inwardly he was still concerned about Claudette, who had been entrusted to him. He was sure that Monet meant well and was probably one of the best people to take care of Claudette, but the fact was that he simply did not trust her judgment, especially given Claudette's current state.

"I... I cannot, Logan. Nicole trusted me to bring Claudette back to her. Until that is done-"

"Say no more," Logan interrupted, a knowing look in his eyes. "Do what you gotta do. Laura and I can handle this."

"I would feel better if Penance were with us, especially if these men have more of that trigger scent," Laura admitted softly. "But I think she has other priori-"

The rest of Laura's statement was lost in the roar of a large explosion nearby. Piotr looked up to see Monet and Penance crashing to the ground, and just beyond them, what looked like a miniature sun made out of pure psionic energy.

"Claudette!" Monet shouted. "Stop pushing me away! Let me help you!"

Piotr realized with growing horror that Claudette was the cause of the explosion, and could just barely make out her body, doubled over in pain and thrashing violently, at the heart of sun. "What happened?!"

"She managed to reform her body, but as I feared, the gas is still inside of her," Monet explained. "I was trying to guide her through expelling the gas, but I suspect she is in too much pain to the gather the focus needed to do so."

Piotr took another look at the sun, sighed, and shook his head. "You're wrong."

Monet glared at him. "Excuse me? I've been Claudette's sister all of her life. Just because she's adopted you for a matter of hours, you think you can just walk in here and tell me-"

"If Claudette lacked the focus to expel the gas from her body, I doubt she could manage to do something as complex as constructing a miniature sun out of psionic energy, either. This is merely her instinct."

"To do what?"

"To protect us from the gas if she does expel it. That's why she's pushing you away: for your own safety."

"There's no way for you to know that!"

Piotr shot her a cold look. "It's what I would do, if my presence threatened my sister."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"We need Nicole here. Can you call her?"

In that instant, a portal opened up in front of them, and Nicole ran through with Illyana right behind her.

"I sensed Claudette in terrible pain!" Nicole cried, her eyes widening as she spotted Monet. Then she noticed the sun and froze. "She'd never imprint Chamber's power if she could avoid it! We need a fast, safe way to dispose of the gas!"

"We don't have one, Nicole," Monet replied, frowning.

Nicole glanced around, and then her face lit up. "Yes, we do! Penance!"

The aforementioned girl turned as Nicole ran up to her and began gesturing excitedly at Claudette. Penance glanced between them a few times, nodded, and slowly began to approach Claudette, who had stopped thrashing, but was clearly still in great pain.

"What are you expecting to happen, Nicole?" Piotr asked.

"Penance is a living prison," Nicole explained. "She was made to contain people. We already know that. But I think if she absorbs Claudette, she can separate her from the gas and then spit her right back out!"

"But you're not sure," Monet said, panic slipping into her voice.

"Penance thinks it will work!"

"And if she's wrong, we may lose our sister forever!"

"Not forever! Just until there's another big explosion. And if we keep hanging around these guys, that should only be, what, a few days, tops! Look, they're doing it now!"

The miniature sun blinked out, and Claudette collapsed to the ground, her face contorted in pain. Penance slowly moved to her side, crouched down, and simply stopped moving. Claudette eventually reached up and placed her hand flat against Penance's chest. After a few seconds, her hand sank into Penance's chest, and was pulled in all the way up to her elbow. They stayed like that for almost five minutes, and then Penance beckoned them closer with a single red claw. Claudette closed her eyes and simply fell away from Penance, Monet and Nicole catching her before her head could hit the ground.

"I believe the gas is out of her system," Monet said faintly. "She's just exhausted."

Piotr looked at Penance, who had swiftly backed away from them. He walked over to her, and slowly placed his steel hand on her head, stroking it gently. "Thank you again, Penance."

Penance closed her eyes and smiled, clearly enjoying the sensation. Then she slipped out from under his hand and over to Logan and Laura. Without a word between them, the trio ran deeper into the woods.

"Go with them, Peter," Nicole said. "You've done what you promised, and I really appreciate it." She lowered her voice and added, "Please make sure that whoever made that gas doesn't get a chance to make more."

"Call me when you need a portal back, brother," Illyana added.

Piotr nodded and slowly began to walk away. The reminder of the source of Claudette's current condition ignited the flame of his rage, and even he was startled at how quickly it spread. Suddenly, he was glad that Jubilee would not be there to see him when he did catch up to the men responsible. Logan and Laura would be used to it, and even better, Penance could not breathe a word of it to anyone. It would be just like there were no witnesses.

No witnesses at all.

With that reassuring thought in mind, Piotr began to run. In response to the combination of his growing rage as well as his desire to inflict harm, the crimson bands that marked the power of Cyttorak appeared on his muscular arms and legs. His speed grew with every heavy footfall, the forest quickly becoming a blur around him. He was only vaguely aware of Logan, Laura, and even Penance grabbing onto him as he passed them, and their added weight was in no way a hindrance. Piotr could only see his ultimate goal before him: punishing those who had caused Claudette harm.

The brother in him would do it to protect her.

The Colossus in him would do it to protect everyone.

The Juggernaut in him would do it solely because it would be fun.

* * *

Jubilee had been a little worried when Nicole suddenly jumped up and demanded that Illyana make a portal for her. Nicole wasn't the type to just panic over anything, and for her to do that, something had to be seriously wrong with Claudette.

When Nicole and Illyana finally returned to Avengers Academy, with Monet and Claudette in tow, but minus Piotr, Jubilee had plenty of questions, but she put them aside out of concern for Claudette. Once it was established that Claudette would be fine with some rest, however, Jubilee started looking for answers. For no reason that she could guess at, Nicole and Illyana made themselves scarce. This left Jubilee alone in the infirmary with Claudette, who was still asleep, and Monet, the least likely person to give her a straight answer. Considering their last meeting, Jubilee wasn't crazy about fighting with Monet again, but she cared more about her other friends than she did Monet's happiness at the moment. She decided to start off with a question that Monet was most likely to answer.

"Okay, so what happened to Claudette out there?" Jubilee asked. "I know they said she's okay now, but I got the impression that wasn't always the case."

Monet hesitated for a long moment before sighing deeply. "Laura was rendered powerless by a special type of gas. Claudette absorbed it by imprinting Vincente's power, but could not safely separate herself from the gas afterward. In order to protect us, she imprinted Chamber's power to quarantine herself in a psionic bubble until Nicole suggested that Penance, as a living prison, could safely absorb the gas."

Jubilee stared at her in disbelief. "And that actually worked?"

"Surprisingly, yes. Penance did not seem to suffer any ill effects from the gas, and left with Logan, Laura, and Peter to apprehend the men responsible."

"Oh." Jubilee took a long look at Claudette. "You must have been really worried."

"Of course not. Claudette is a St. Croix, and she-"

"Worries you so much sometimes that you can't think straight?" Jubilee interrupted. "Maybe talking big is how you deal with it, Monet, but you can't fool me. I've only been with her for a couple of hours, and I can't stop worrying. About what she'll do next, or if she'll get sick, or if she'll hurt herself and not be able to cry out for help."

Monet glared at her. "Claudette is not an invalid."

"I never said she was. But in a lot of ways, she's still a kid, and you can't help wanting to take care of her. Don't bother denying it, Nicole told me all about your little talk. I'm not saying you're wrong to feel that way. I'm just saying I understand, and we finally have some common ground, so maybe we can stop biting each other's heads off."

"It was never my intention to fight with you, Jubilee. I didn't know you came seeking my help. I've just been so frustrated with Marius and his... situation."

"I get that, Monet. But we're nowhere near the same, and when you compared me to him, it was like you were spitting in my face. And not in the way I'm used to, either."

Monet frowned. "Did I really treat you so badly in the past?"

"Not on purpose, no," Jubilee replied. "Not most of the time, anyway. You were a little much to take, but you had a crummy life. I can't really blame you for wanting to be perfect."

"I don't really consider my past 'crummy', but I suppose I can agree with the overall sentiment. Thank you. Now, Nicole mentioned that you wanted my help, but she never did say what for."

Jubilee shifted uncomfortably. "Well, Illyana came up with the idea of putting a spell on me that will allow select people to restrain me if I ever give in to my blood lust. I was going to ask if you'd agree to be one of them."

Monet stared at her. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because it implies that you place a great deal of trust in me. I was not aware."

"Oh, get over yourself, Monet! Not liking you and not trusting you are two different things. We were teammates, once. Sure, I'd talk about you behind your back, but when push came to shove, I'd still have your back. I thought that was a given."

"I suppose it was, and yet it was one of several things I was not aware of. I apologize, and I am honored to accept your offer."

Jubilee frowned and placed her hand on Claudette's forehead, as if checking for a fever.

"What are you doing?" Monet asked.

"Trying to make sure she's real, and that the twins didn't pull that fake Monet business on me again. Sounds like you said you're sorry, and you'd be honored to help me."

Monet smirked. "Me, apologizing to you, and honored to help you? I'm sure you imagined that, Jubilee. You can't believe everything you think you hear."

* * *

Nicole had not wanted to leave Claudette's side, but Illyana claimed she had something important to discuss, something best revealed in private. Apparently the hallway just outside the infirmary was private enough, because that was where Illyana stopped.

Nicole stared at her. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"Indeed, I did, Nicole," Illyana agreed. "I'm sure you've already figured out that my brother and I are not merely Jubilee's traveling companions and friends. We are a team, and they chose me to lead that team."

"Is this your way of telling me I have to listen to you now?"

"Not exactly. This is my way of inviting you to join us. We would be happy to have you."

Nicole narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I notice you didn't include Claudette in this invitation."

"I assumed it was implied. I was not excluding her."

"Then why did you want to talk to me alone?"

"Because Claudette is sleeping, and I assume you would not want Monet present for this conversation."

Nicole winced. "Oh. Right. There is that little hiccup."

"If you are worried about Monet, I have an idea on how to handle her," Illyana said with a smile. Nicole had seen actual mobsters with less threatening smiles, but she was not really impressed.

"You're kidding, right? You don't just 'handle' Monet. She's a force of nature. You run out of the way so she doesn't run you over."

"And yet I don't see you running," Illyana pointed out.

"Yeah, well, just because you know how to survive Hurricane Monet doesn't mean you do so unscathed."

"Regardless, I have a solution that may put Monet's mind at ease. How would feel about Claudette having sessions with a mutant who specializes in virtually all known and quite a few unknown languages?"

Nicole shook her head firmly at once. "She's been forced into speech therapy countless times. She doesn't like it, and neither do I."

"You misunderstand. The goal here is not to get Claudette to talk, but to improve how well we are able to listen to her, you included. Are you really content to leave things as they are, if there's even the slightest chance that you could strengthen the bond between you?"

After a long pause, Nicole looked away, biting her lip. "I want it understood that the goal is only to improve communications with Claudette," she said at last. "Not to get her talking, because she's happy not doing it, and not to fix her, because she isn't broken. If you can promise me that, I'll agree to this." Nicole glared at Illyana. "But if you go back on your word, Monet won't be the only St. Croix sister you need to worry about."

"I give you my word, Nicole, but there's no need for the attitude. You don't need to protect Claudette from me."

"Don't flatter yourself. I've been protecting her from the whole world for as long as I can remember, and I won't stop until she asks me to."

* * *

Logan's group had tracked the troopers back to a research facility. At least, that was what the name on the sign had claimed, though Logan was pretty sure he'd smelled enough gun oil to start a nice little war in a small foreign country. The plan had been to go in, find out if they had more of the trigger scent, destroy it if they did, and strongly suggest that it not be made again. People with adamantium claws usually only had to make such requests once, and they almost never had to be nice about it.

Only the plan was rendered useless, after Piotr - no, he was definitely just Juggernaut at that point - charged through the facility at 650 miles per hour. Although it checked off all of their objectives at once, Logan could not help feeling disappointed. He'd been itching for a fight, and Laura had been, too. Beyond that, when Piotr had returned to his senses, he hadn't taken the destruction of the facility and loss of lives very well. It wasn't quite the meltdown Logan had feared, but even so, sitting among dead bodies and wreckage, with a haunted look in the eyes, and not saying a word was never a good sign. That much he knew from experience. Even Penance recognized that something was seriously wrong and sat down beside Piotr, leaning against his knee and refusing to budge until he did.

Though it didn't need to be said, Laura turned to Logan and pointed out, "We can't just leave him here."

"True. But Pete ain't moving if he don't want to, darlin'," Logan replied. "Plus, he's making us late for our dance date."

The reminder brought a small smile to Laura's face, if only briefly. "Then what would make him move?"

"Who would you move for?"

"You. And Gambit." She paused. "Family and friends."

"Then there's your answer." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something small and green scramble over some debris and out of sight. Laura had already unsheathed her claws and taken two steps forward, but Logan held up his hand to stop her. "Leave it. Just one of Illyana's helpers. Got her scent."

"It was a demon," Laura insisted. "It smelled... wrong."

He shrugged. "Way the world works, darlin'. You live in Rome long enough, you smell Roman."

* * *

Piotr abruptly became aware of three sets of hands on his steel skin as he sat among the debris. He did not find this disturbing or comforting, just odd.

"Brother," Illyana said in his ear. "Are you back with us now?"

He turned his head to look at her, and found that she actually seemed worried. "What happened, Snowflake?"

"You killed people again. Clearly, this upset you. I transported Jubilee here to assist me, just in case. I should have been with you."

He thought back to the crimson rage that had driven him forward, and shook his head. "No. It would have made no difference. All I could see was destruction. I would prefer that you not see me that way."

"But that's our job," Jubilee insisted from his other side, grasping his face in her hands and making him look at her. "To love you even though we've seen you like that, you big lug. What do you think we're here for? Eye candy? Even Penny was worried about you this time."

"I am... sorry," he murmured, reaching down to carefully pat Penance's head. "This power is not easy to control."

Jubilee rolled her eyes and poked him in the forehead. "Dude, it's the Juggernaut. Did you think it was supposed to be?"

"A common misconception," Illyana stated. "People with enormous strength already assume they will be able to handle even more. But I don't know for sure that this power substantially increased your strength at all. It just put it on a runaway freight train. You're used to your strength. You aren't used to it constantly running away with you. That is the difference."

"Except that the freight train is drawn to more and more potential wrecks, and has no brake," Piotr added.

"You'll figure it out, Petey," Jubilee said confidently. "And we'll be with you until you do, and even after that." She leaned in and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "That's for being such a sweetie to Claudette," she explained when he gave her a curious look. "Not that I expected anything different from you, of course. But I wanted you to know that it is appreciated."

Piotr blinked slowly as Jubilee walked away with Penance at her heels. He hesitantly touched the still warm spot on his cheek, and nearly jumped when Illyana cleared her throat loudly.

"Brother? That was almost painful to watch. Next time, remember to shift back to your human form before a girl kisses you. It can only be more pleasing for everyone involved."

* * *

They could have found a proper dance-hall, full of dancing couples and fitting music. But that would have required them to wear something other than the bloody clothes they had on, and Laura hadn't wanted to wait. So Logan had found one of the many bars where the owner knew him well enough to avoid asking questions about the state of his clothes and present company. The only music they had was the irritating mix of an old country song on the radio and an old sci-fi movie blaring on the TV in the corner, but Laura didn't seem to mind that. All she really wanted was to dance with him, and Logan was just thankful she had no other dancing dates to compare it with, or she might have been greatly disappointed.

It was during the third dance that Logan asked, "Were you ever going to bring up the father-daughter breakfast?"

Laura blinked and raised her head from his shoulder. "You knew?" she asked in surprise.

"Spidey has a big mouth. About the things that need to be blabbed, anyway. So, were you?"

"Tonight was enough," she murmured. "You don't have to come. People would stare."

"I'm used to 'em doing far worse. I don't mind it."

"You don't have to come," she repeated.

"Laura, I'm asking if you want me to come. I'll be there if you want me there."

She bit her lip. "But I'm not your daughter. Not really."

"Darlin', there's lots of different things that make someone a daughter. But you only need one thing to be mine: the bond we already share. Besides, if you didn't have my blood in you before, you do now. Feels like Penance took enough out of me to start her own blood bank."

"You would have done that for any comrade."

"Maybe," he allowed, gently kissing her forehead. "But tonight, I did it for my daughter."

* * *

When Claudette opened her eyes in the infirmary, she was greeted by the sight of Jubilee's smiling face leaning over her. "Hey, sweetie," Jubilee said softly, reaching out to gently pat her cheek. "You feeling better?"

In response, Claudette gently squeezed Jubilee's hand, but did not release it.

In the next instant, Monet appeared on the other side of the bed. "Claudette?" she breathed, the uncertainty in her voice obvious.

With her free hand, Claudette seized Monet's hand and squeezed it as well. Then she drew both of their hands to her heart and held them there for a moment before releasing them.

Jubilee grinned at Monet. "I don't think we need Nicole to translate that one."

Monet nodded and leaned in to kiss Claudette's forehead. "I'm so glad you're safe, little sister."

Claudette glanced around the room, obviously looking for something. Then she tugged on Jubilee's arm and pointed at the ground near her feet. Jubilee automatically looked down, but Claudette tugged harder, shook her head, and pointed more forcefully.

"Did you step in something?" Monet asked.

Jubilee scowled at her. "No! And I don't think that's what she means. She was looking around, like she expected to see something or someone. And she's pointing at my shoes because, um..." Jubilee hesitated, and then her eyes widened. "She wants to know where Penance is!"

Claudette nodded firmly.

Monet stared at Jubilee in wonder. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "You only spent who knows how long trapped in that body, and ninety percent of that time crouching. Why do you think she pointed near my feet? That's where Penny would be if she were in the room." Jubilee turned back to Claudette and smiled. "Don't worry, Penny's around here somewhere. I think she's either with Nicole or Peter. Maybe you can do your twin thing and find out."

Claudette immediately looked toward the door, which soon opened to admit Nicole and Penance.

"Okay, that was a little creepy," Jubilee muttered.

Nicole smirked. "Jubilee, you should know that my psychic rapport with Claudette has a setting that generally works like a baby monitor. So even if I'm not in the room with her, assume I can always hear anything you say around her. And I can definitely hear when it suddenly turns on after having been off for an extended period. Also, if we didn't like you so much, we'd resent that 'creepy' comment." Nicole eased herself into the bed, slipping an arm around Claudette, who immediately leaned against her and waved to Penance.

Penance smiled and waved back.

"So, did anyone ever figure out who Penny is now?" Jubilee asked. "I mean, we used to think she was Monet, but that turned out to be a bust. She must have had a life somewhere before Emplate did... whatever he did to her, right?"

"It's difficult to say, even now," Monet sighed. "My brother is a student of black magic, which none of us is familiar with. There's no telling exactly what his spell did to Penance. And I tend to believe that the same aspect of her armor that greatly limits telepathic intrusion also has a negative impact on her memory, and on anyone else while they're inside her. I can remember some of my time trapped in her body, but not all of it. At first I thought this was due to Emplate's constant feeding, but the same happened to Nicole and Claudette while they were in Penance, and he never managed to feed on them during that time. Of course, this could just be due to more than one consciousness residing in one body. Maybe the memory gaps are when Penance was able to assume control over her own body, and she has corresponding gaps where her prisoners were in control. We may never know, unless we can force Marius to break the spell. He certainly wouldn't do it willingly, no matter the pain he's caused us all."

"We owe to it Penny to try," Jubilee insisted. "She's our friend, and while nobody had a choice in it, she kept you and the twins safe."

"I agree, and so does Claudette," Nicole chimed in. "The way Emplate is now, I'm sure he'd rather die than give Penance her freedom. There must be something we could offer him in exchange."

"He'll probably demand his own freedom and either one of us, or Penance as a meal ticket," Monet warned. "That isn't something I'm willing to agree to."

"Maybe Illyana will have some ideas," Jubilee suggested hesitantly. "I'm pretty sure she knows black magic. Where is she, anyway?"

"When I last saw her, she said something about going to pick up a new friend for Claudette," Nicole replied. "Though I'm not really sure how well they'll get along, personally."

* * *

On Utopia's transport deck, Dani Moonstar checked her watch again. "Maybe she's not coming."

At her side, Doug Ramsey grinned. "She'll come, Dani. This sounded pretty serious. Besides, I don't think she would prank us if she wanted us mad at her. She just wouldn't call at all if she wanted that."

"You didn't talk directly to her, though."

"No, but we both know Illyana. We haven't done anything lately to make her mad. In fact, the last time I saw her, she was perfectly friendly. For her, anyway."

A minute later, a glowing portal opened up in front of them, and Illyana stepped out. "Danielle. Douglas. You both look well."

Dani looked like she wanted to say something not so nice to that, so Doug quickly gave Illyana a hug. "Nice to see you again, Illyana. But I've told you several times now: feel free to call me Doug."

"I feel freer to call you Douglas," Illyana replied as she always did.

"Are you behaving yourself?" Doug asked.

Illyana smiled. "Not even remotely. Not that I ever did."

Dani glared at her. "You and Peter didn't even tell me you were leaving."

"I assumed Kitty would spread the word."

"She did and that's not even the point. _You_ should have told me!"

Illyana sighed. "I apologize, Danielle. In all fairness, Sam was the only one I spoke to on the way out. I didn't really want to run into anyone else. It was nothing personal. I just really, really wanted to leave. People constantly being angry at me got a bit boring."

"We talked about this. That was justified anger, Illyana."

"Agreed. But it still gets boring rather quickly. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that."

"No, you don't," Dani sighed. "I just thought we were closer than that."

"We are. I didn't leave because I didn't care about you. I left because I care so much about you that I didn't want to snap and kill all of you."

Dani frowned at her. "I can never tell if you're joking or serious when you talk about murder."

"Best to err on the side of caution, I always say." Illyana gave Dani a hug. "I really did miss you and the others. Everyone but Kitty. Be sure to tell her that for me, would you?"

Dani chuckled and returned the hug. "Same old Illyana. I missed you, too. Do us all a favor and bring Doug back in one piece."

"I wouldn't mind that so much, either," Doug was quick to chime in.

Illyana nodded. "You have my word. This project isn't even combat-related, so I doubt he'll be harmed much."

Doug shot Dani a worried look. "I see what you mean about not being able to tell when she's joking."

Dani patted him on the back and gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm pretty sure that wasn't a joke, Doug."

* * *

Piotr had planned to sit in the break room alone and do some thinking. Jubilee ruined this plan by tracking him down and sitting next to him, but he couldn't bring himself to mind her presence. They talked about many things, though Piotr found it odd that they managed to avoid mentioning the kiss she'd given him. Maybe it was no big deal to her, but it felt like one to him, if only because it was difficult to keep simply thinking of Jubilee as a friend. While he was fairly sure there was no deeper meaning to the kiss, something in him wanted to see it as more. He thought that Jubilee, of all people, could understand what it was like to have his body and mind tied to darkness. More importantly, she was familiar with his history with Kitty, and didn't hold it against him. And even though she was a vampire, with her around it was easier to focus his thoughts on being a man, rather than constantly battling the monster inside.

They had only been there a few minutes when Laura poked her head in the door. "Jubilee, can I talk to you?" she asked.

"Sure. Hey, how was your date?" Jubilee asked eagerly. "Don't leave anything out!"

"It was nice," Laura said simply as she walked in.

Jubilee pouted. "Wow, thanks for the detailed description, Laura. Did you at least bring me something back?"

Laura paused and frowned at her. "If it was my date, why would I bring something back for you?"

"Because I'm your friend and you knew I'd be waiting up for you! And since you're not giving me any juicy details, you must have something else for me instead!"

Laura stared blankly for a moment before reaching into her pocket. "I took a napkin from the bar. I was going to save it, but if you really want it, it's yours."

Jubilee made a face. "Keep it. Anyway, I need to ask you something serious."

"You want to know if I will consent to stopping you if you are ever overcome by blood lust. Logan told me you would ask."

"Oh." Jubilee hesitated before asking, "So...?"

Laura nodded. "Of course I will. But I do not think I can be trusted with any magical means. Currently, I am too easily controlled by trigger scents, and magic means next to nothing to me. If you need to be stopped, I will find another way to do it. But no magic."

"Then I guess you're going to say no to joining the team, too? For the same reason?"

"More or less. If a day should come where I no longer have anything to fear from trigger scents, I will reconsider. But for now, I can only remain your friend and assist when you need me." Laura turned to leave, but paused in the doorway and added softly, "Thank you for being there today, both of you. Please thank the others for me as well."

After Laura had gone, Jubilee sighed and leaned against Piotr's arm. "I was really hoping she'd join the team."

"She doesn't want to be a danger to us," Piotr noted. "That's not the same thing as not wanting to join, Jubilee."

"I know. But I don't like her being alone so much, and we haven't really had a chance to hang out since she came here. I also don't like to think that our friendship is more or less based on the idea that we'd each kill the other if we absolutely had to."

Piotr shook his head. "I refuse to believe anyone could have a friendship with you based largely on that. She wouldn't have thanked you if she felt that way."

"Maybe not, but I can't help thinking that way."

He reached over and gently seized her chin, turning her face to his. "Then maybe you should think of something else."

"Yeah, maybe I should," Jubilee murmured, and without warning, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Piotr was stunned, because while he could certainly understand how Jubilee had drawn the wrong conclusion from his words, kissing hadn't been his intent at all. He had only wanted to distract her from her negative thoughts, as she had done for him earlier. Still, the kiss was not unwelcome or unwanted by any means, so he began to return it as soon as he realized what had happened.

Just as abruptly as she had initiated the kiss, Jubilee broke it, jerking her head back. Her eyes were wide with fear, and Piotr wasn't sure why until he saw the telltale flash of red deep in them. "Jubilee," he whispered, slowly reaching up to stroke her cheek. "Are you still with me?"

"Y-Yeah," she whispered back, closing her eyes and leaning into his touch. "But it... flared up for a second, y'know? I haven't gotten... excited, this way, since I was turned."

"Do you want us to stop?"

"Of course not!" she cried at once, grabbing his arm. Then she blushed. "Maybe we should, though, unless... how quick can you change to steel?"

"Instantly."

"Are we talking human instant or superhuman instant? Because if I go for your throat, it'll need to be the second one."

"Then we should be fine as long as your mouth is occupied with mine?"

Jubilee grinned at him. "I love the way you think, Petey." Then she was in his arms with her mouth back on his, and the only concern in Piotr's mind was how long they could each keep at it until they needed to come up for air. At some point he remembered that in his steel form, he did not require air, and he was just about to ask Jubilee if she minded a little experiment when someone coughed, loudly and falsely.

Piotr reluctantly broke the kiss, but did not immediately pull his head away from Jubilee's, both because he intended to pick up where he left off if the interruption wasn't massively important, and because he did not want to tempt Jubilee by presenting her with his throat at her eye level. But he did shift his head enough to spot his sister standing in the doorway. "Snowflake? What is it?"

"I'm sorry to intrude," Illyana said, sounding as if she truly meant it, "but I've just come back from picking up Douglas. He's with Monet, Penance, and the twins now."

"Wait, Douglas?" Jubilee asked, turning to look at her. "As in 'Used-to-be-Dead Doug,' right?"

Illyana smirked. "I'm quite sure he never calls himself that, but yes."

"Oh, cool. We should go say hi."

"No, no," Illyana disagreed with a smile. "Please, go back to what you were doing. This is a big school, so I'm sure anyone looking for you could easily get lost. Feel free to take your time." With that, she turned and walked away.

Jubilee turned back to Piotr. "I take it she approves?"

He nodded. "She didn't try to dump you in Limbo, so I would think so."

"Neat. Now, where were we?"

* * *

Illyana did not return immediately to the infirmary, where she knew Doug would be introducing himself to the St. Croix sisters and Penance. Instead, she went outside for some fresh air, and was not at all surprised to find Logan stretched out in the grass, staring up at the early morning sky.

"Pete okay?" he asked.

"I feel confident in saying he is no longer dwelling on the mission," she replied, sitting down next to him. "He will adjust, slowly but surely."

"Good." Logan cleared his throat loudly. "Saw one of your demons earlier."

Illyana made a small gesture, and suddenly there was a green demon, greatly resembling a hideously ugly baby with claws, clinging to her back. "This one?"

Logan blinked. "Uh... yeah?"

"This is Ferog. He is the only demon I have given permission to leave Limbo for any reason, and only when I have given him a task that requires it. If you see any other, assume it is up to no good and act accordingly. Ferog, say hello to Logan."

Ferog blinked his overly large yellow eyes and made a sound that was half-wail, half-screech. Logan got the impression that he was either in terrible pain, or just very lousy at talking. Possibly both.

Illyana pulled up a handful of grass and passed it over her shoulder to Ferog, who immediately shoved it into his mouth and began to chew. "He has no will of his own, but for that very reason he is an excellent helper."

"If you say so," Logan said doubtfully. "Should you really be involved with a demon again, though? I only let him go earlier because I smelled you on him."

"I hardly think he counts, and besides, it's practically unavoidable at this point," Illyana said with a sigh. "My ties to Limbo are eternal, Logan. Even if I never go there again, demons would still seek me out. Anyway, having contact with one demon actually keeps the others away. If I had no contact with them at all, there's no telling what they'd do to get my attention. They really don't like feeling ignored."

"Pete and the others know about this?"

"My brother may suspect, but I'm sure the others don't. You think I should tell them."

"Sooner rather than later. Jubilee smells you on a demon, she might think it ate you."

Illyana glanced at Ferog. "I would like to think Jubilee would never underestimate me that much, but you may have a point. Still, Ferog only eats what I give him, and that does not include meat of any kind."

"Which Jubilee won't know until you tell her," Logan pointed out. "If he's as harmless as you say, it shouldn't be a big deal."

"All very true." Illyana gently scratched a spot on Ferog's head, causing his eyes to close in obvious pleasure. "I'm all he has, Logan. Without someone to care for him, he will simply rot and die. I don't want that. He's been through enough."

"He reminds you of you, doesn't he?"

Illyana froze. "I... honestly hadn't thought of it that way. Yes, I suppose he does."

"They should all understand that. They're not as innocent as you seem to think. Not anymore."

* * *

Once, there was a boy named Marius St. Croix. Unknown to him at the time, he had been born into what would eventually become a predominantly mutant family. Like his sisters, Marius would one enjoy a myriad of mutant gifts. Unlike them, his would include a curse: the need to feed on mutant marrow. Given that, it was almost inevitable that Marius would become the monstrous Emplate. The extraction of marrow was painful under any circumstances, so Marius had assumed that no one outside of his family would give it willingly.

(His family might have been a bit more willing if Marius's first victim hadn't been his own mother, and if he hadn't drained her to the point of death. They hadn't known that at the time, of course, but had been suspicious of his involvement and refusal to discuss it all along. Still, Marius assumed they wouldn't have been willing either way.)

Claudette, as far as he was concerned, had always filled the family's freak quota quite nicely without causing physical harm to anyone else. As an added bonus, she was perfectly presentable, if a little distracted, in every family portrait. It was no wonder they'd preferred her problems to his.

But the bad feelings had been there even before the twins came along. Monet had always gotten and demanded more attention from their parents, and then so had the twins. Monet, however, was worse because she hadn't actually needed the attention to thrive, and because she'd known perfectly well that she was dooming her brother to a life in her shadow. She simply hadn't cared. He had hated her for it.

Marius had studied black magic for several reasons: it suited him, he was terribly good at it, and it seemed to represent everything that perfect, sweet Monet was not. For years, he had thrown himself into his craft, setting himself up as a would-be conqueror of every realm he chose to set foot in. All he really needed was Monet's strength at his side. In truth, he had never expected her to agree to help him. In truth, he had always planned make her a mute, disfigured slave, from the very moment she had first stolen their parents' love from him. All she really cemented on that fateful day was what form he chose to trap her in. The twins had intervened and ruined his plans, but he had still gotten a great deal of use out of Monet while she was his prisoner.

There had been setbacks, to be sure. Generation X had kept him from Monet and the twins on several occasions, and without them to feed on, he had weakened considerably. Things had not gone much better when he made enemies of the X-Men, either. That was how he'd earned himself a special cell in Utopia's prison block, and it was clear he wasn't leaving until they wanted him to.

As most prisoners were either mutants or possessed some dangerous ability, each cell was customized for its occupant. Emplate was kept restrained in a large tank filled with water. They had improved upon the design of his old respirator: the new one not only provided him with easily breathable air, but a constant stream of nutrients, including the bare minimum of marrow he needed to stay on the physical plane. Though he had no idea which mutant the marrow came from, it was no doubt one with a fairly subtle ability. The tank clearly had some extra security measures that would activate if he managed to breach it, though he was unsure what. What Emplate knew for sure was that the floor immediately surrounding the tank had several runes applied to it. If he passed through them without permission, his essence would be ripped from him and split painfully among several dimensions. Assuming he survived that, there was still the primary issue: it was a widespread rumor that every prisoner was given a type of hyperactive cancer that remained in remission so long as they breathed Utopia's air. Only Elixir and a few other X-Men had the means to remove it. So even if Emplate escaped, he would likely die in a matter of hours, assuming he eluded capture that long.

But therein lay the genius of Emplate's plan: he wasn't going to escape. He was going to walk right out of the front door. He had known that his sisters were fragile, emotional beings, and that sooner or later, one of them would reach out to him again. He hadn't expected it to be Monet, of course, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that she had pleaded with him to break the spell on Penance. Soon, she would be at the point where she was willing to make a trade. The moment she did, he would demand his freedom. Trying to hold on to Penance had caused him more trouble than she was worth. There were so many other mutants to choose from, some simply roaming the streets alone, waiting for him to sample them. He didn't need to fixate on just one. All Emplate needed was to be free, and his world domination plot would soon be back in full swing. It was only a matter of time, and he could wait. And judging from the desperate look on Monet's face when she'd left him last, he wouldn't have to wait very long.

End of Chapter 4.

* * *

Continued in **Chapter 5: The Secret Keeper**

Cypher and Colossus are pulled into the world within Claudette's mind. There they learn the deepest, darkest secret of the St. Croix family.

* * *

Endnotes:

I was going to have Laura join the team, initially. But after I thought about it some more, I realized two things: 1) the main purpose of this chapter is the return of Penance to the team, and 2) Laura has enough issues to deal with on her own without being forced into a team dynamic again. She may or may not join the team somewhere down the road, I haven't ruled it out yet.

I didn't want to turn Claudette into another Hope Summers (or, to a lesser extent, another Calvin Rankin a.k.a. Mimic). That was the main reason for the one-power-at-a-time limit. At the same time, St. Croixs are notoriously blessed across the spectrum where their various powers are concerned, so I did want something fairly open-ended to play with.


	5. The Secret Keeper

Notes: In case it needs to be said beforehand (which it might), this chapter contains appearances by Quicksilver and Magneto. This is only noteworthy because of their recent affiliations: Quicksilver was teaching at Avengers Academy, and Magneto was, once again, affiliated with the X-Men. Just so no one will be confused if they expected either or both to be a bad guy.

* * *

**Monsters Like Us**

**An X-Men Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 5: The Secret Keeper**

* * *

The moment he stepped into the infirmary, Doug Ramsey understood that it was enemy territory to him, at least as far as the majority of the four girls inside were concerned. The first one he noticed was Penance, crouched on the floor in front of the bed and studying him with narrowed blue eyes. Her every motion was wariness and anger, mixed together with a powerful protective instinct. Doug had no doubt that if he did the wrong thing, she wouldn't hesitate to rip out his throat with her razor-sharp claws. That much, he'd been told up front, of course. Illyana had assumed he'd want Peter with him for protection, but Doug had quickly squashed that idea. He didn't want their first impression of him to be him hiding behind a steel man-mountain. If there was trouble, there was little his mutant ability to read virtually any language, including body language, could do, other than predict the ways in which Penance would attack. With any luck, the years of training that had been drilled into his body would be enough to keep up with her movements. He'd already died once.

Also as he'd been told, Claudette St. Croix, the entire reason he was here, was seated on the side of the bed. She appeared to be occupying herself by staring at the wall, and didn't seem to have noticed him just yet. Her sisters Monet and Nicole clearly had, however: the elder was watching him like a hawk, and the younger flexed her fingers anxiously, as if she expected a fight to break out.

"Sorry to intrude, ladies," Doug said, keeping his distance. "I'm-"

"Douglas Ramsey, codename: Cypher, current member of the New Mutants under the command of Danielle Moonstar," Nicole interrupted, frowning at him. "We know."

"Ah." Doug didn't need his mutant power to know that she really didn't like him: it was in her voice, her face, and her stance. "Maybe I should start by explaining exactly why I'm here. All I want is to help everyone, and you especially, better communicate with Claudette. I guarantee that this is nothing like the speech therapy you've experienced in the past."

"And you think you can tell us, who have been Claudette's sisters all of her life, how to better understand her, when you're just meeting her for the first time?" Monet demanded.

"No," Doug admitted. "But I do think I can pick up on certain visual cues that you may have missed. For example, I can tell that right now, the three of you are angry and extremely protective of Claudette." Nicole and Monet glanced at other and then Penance, apparently unaware that she'd felt just as they did. "However, I don't see any of that when I look at Claudette. I see someone that's shy around a stranger and needs reassurance. Which is refreshing, since apparently she's the only one not rushing to judge me here."

Claudette ducked her head and grabbed onto Nicole's arm, as if trying to hide behind her. Monet immediately moved closer to her sisters, effectively blocking Doug's view of Claudette.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," Doug stated. "I just want to introduce myself to Claudette for now. That's all. This goes no further if she isn't willing to participate."

"I guess there's no harm in that," Nicole admitted reluctantly.

Wanting to appear as non-threatening as possible, Doug sat down on the floor. It would be a horrible position to be caught in if Penance decided to attack, but he was hoping that wouldn't happen. "Hello, Claudette," he said calmly, directing his attention to the spot behind Nicole and Monet where he figured Claudette's lowered head must have been. "My name is Doug. I'm a friend of Illyana's. I know that sometimes when you speak, some people don't understand you. I want to help you with that. I know that Nicole usually speaks for you, and you may be comfortable with that. But if you let me, I think I can show you a way for your family and friends to understand you without her having to do that. It's entirely up to you, though. If you decide you're interested, I'll just be over there by the door." Doug slowly got to his feet, though before he turned and walked away, he noticed Claudette peeking at him just over Nicole's shoulder.

By the time he reached the door, Doug could tell that someone had followed him, but he was surprised to see it was Monet.

"I don't trust you," she said simply.

"You don't know me," Doug corrected. "I'd be shocked if you did trust me."

"No, I don't trust you because you're a friend of Illyana's," Monet explained.

"Oh. Well, that will do it sometimes. More often than you might think these days," he admitted. "But everything I said was true. If that helps."

"It doesn't. You don't know what speech therapy was like for Claudette."

"True. But I also said that what I want to do isn't speech therapy," Doug reminded her. "I can't stress that enough. Don't you want to be able to communicate with her? Or are you satisfied with how much you're able to talk with her now?"

Monet's eyes narrowed. "No, I'm not. But if that means that she would have to change who she is, or learn something new and difficult just for our convenience, then-"

"It isn't just for your convenience, Monet. Don't you think Claudette gets tired of people looking to Nicole to translate for her? Don't you think Claudette wants to be understood? Don't you want her to understand you? I was under the impression that you have difficulty talking to her, even telepathically."

"That's only because her mental defenses are exceptionally strong. That makes it more difficult to connect and stay connected."

Doug shook his head sadly. "Should her defenses come into play at all if you're simply trying to have a conversation with her? That makes it sound like you're attacking her."

Monet's eyes widened in shock. "What? No! I would never hurt her! Claudette's psi-shields have always been very powerful, and very few telepaths other than Nicole have been able to talk with her that way. Even I can usually only get a few words at a time through to her, but it's not because she's doing it on purpose. It's just that Nicole is the only one able to have any prolonged contact with Claudette. That's the way her mind works, and I accept that."

"But you don't like it, do you? You want to be able to have that connection with her, don't you? You want to be able to tell Claudette that you love her without it having to go through someone else."

"I'll take what I can get. Whatever she's willing to give me."

"You could have more. Easily, I suspect. All you need is someone able to show you how. I'm willing, and I'd bet anything that Claudette is able."

"You don't know her."

"Maybe not," Doug said, smiling as Claudette suddenly peeked out at him from behind Monet's shoulder, "but I know a girl with spirit when I see one. Hello again, Claudette. It's wonderful to finally meet you."

Claudette hesitantly extended her right hand, which Doug shook slowly and carefully. She gave him a tiny, bashful smile and moved out from behind Monet, though Doug noticed that she kept one hand on Monet's arm. It was a good start, but there was one more thing that Doug needed to get the ball rolling.

"Claudette, I need to know that you want this to work. Your sisters aren't sure because they don't want you to be frustrated, but I'm willing to try if you are. Do you want to try?"

Claudette glanced at Monet, then back at Nicole, hesitated for several seconds, but finally let go of Monet's arm and moved to stand next to Doug.

"You don't have to do this, Claudette," Monet told her. "No matter what you decide, we'll still love and support you. So if you're only doing this for us, then-"

"She isn't doing it for us," Nicole interrupted. "Not just for us, anyway. She wants to be heard by more than just me. I'm not happy about this, either, but it's her decision, and I promised I wouldn't try to stop her if she volunteered."

"I still think you ladies really have the wrong idea about what I'm proposing," Doug said. "I'm not going to force Claudette to do anything, and I have no intention of pushing her out of her comfort zone. In fact, the first thing I'd like to do is just observe how she interacts with the people around her. That will give me a better idea of where we need to start. Just pretend I'm not here and act as you normally would."

"In that case, my vacation days ended around three hours ago," Monet sighed. "I should get back to work. Nicole, since we haven't resolved our dispute, I assume you're in no hurry to get home?"

Nicole gaped at her for a few seconds. "Uh, yeah! I'm still mad at you!" She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest to indicate this.

"Fine. You know how to call me if you need me, and I trust that you won't let anything happen to Claudette."

"You're leaving? Just like that?" Nicole asked in disbelief.

"You wanted me to treat you like an adult, so I am," Monet replied. "And I am needed back at X-Factor Investigations."

"And this isn't because you're still mad at me?"

"Nicole, your complaints were that I was treating you like a child, and mistreating your friends. Removing myself from the equation solves both issues. Jubilee and I have come to understanding, but we will always disagree on certain things. You and Claudette have your independence. I do still expect regular calls to be assured of your well-being, and I will of course immediately share any progress I make concerning Penance or our brother."

Nicole frowned at her. "You look mad."

Monet hesitated in answering. "I am... hurt and disappointed, not mad. I thought you liked the way I took care of you. I didn't realize you felt smothered, or that you resented my care. I'm glad that you finally made me aware of this, but don't expect me to like it. I consider your happiness more important than my own, so I can accept this arrangement, for now." She turned to leave, but Claudette immediately pulled her into a tight hug. Though a little startled at first, Monet quickly returned the hug, resting her head on Claudette's. Despite Nicole's claims of still being angry, she ran over and was accepted into the hug without a word of protest. "I love you both," Monet said softly, kissing their foreheads. "If I was ever too firm, it was only because Father never was. You probably don't remember Mother very well, but she wouldn't have wanted you to become spoiled. I have always tried to show that I cared, and if I ever failed in that, I'm truly sorry. I know I could never replace Mother, but I didn't want you to grow up without her. I did the best that I could, given our unique circumstances."

"We never wanted to hurt you," Nicole murmured, reaching up to stroke Monet's cheek. "We just wanted to help Jubilee. But there was no way to do that without upsetting you, at the time. You should have more faith, Monet. Trust that you raised us well enough that we know right from wrong, and that we know when to ask for help if we need it. But if we don't ask for your help, don't assume it's because we don't need you. We like that you worry about us, but it's what you do after that gets on our nerves. But we love you, anyway."

Doug watched it all unfold silently, making mental notes on little things he noticed: the way in which one of the twins' moods seemed to envelop the other in short order, how they united against (or with) Monet as the situation demanded, and more importantly, how Claudette responded both to the presence and touch of each of her sisters. They weren't things just anyone would pick up on, and he'd bet that the sisters themselves were largely unaware of most of it, but if there was one thing his mutant power was thankfully good at, it was being quite thorough where body language was concerned. From what he'd seen so far, Claudette mostly felt safe and happy with her sisters. But he suspected that Monet's inability to consistently connect with her, and Nicole's tendency to speak for Claudette, were both indicators that there was ample room for improvement.

He was drawn from his musing by the sudden approach of Penance, who, after giving him a long, considering look, sat somewhat near his feet in what for her seemed to be a relaxed crouch. Doug offered her a hesitant smile. Penance did not return it. What she did do was remove her gaze from him long enough where it was clear she no longer considered him a threatening presence, and that was just fine with him.

* * *

With Claudette cleared to leave the Avengers Academy infirmary, Illyana could come up with no valid reason for her team to continue imposing on their comrades. At the same time, returning to their hotel room was no longer an option, as the team now included Penance and Doug. Penance insisted on staying with the twins, and she was welcome to, but Illyana did not look forward to trying to explain or pay for the damage that Penance's razor-sharp feet would do to a hotel floor. Likewise, Doug didn't know anyone well enough where he felt comfortable sharing a bed. Well, that was inaccurate: he knew Illyana well enough, but that was entirely why he wasn't comfortable. The Illyana he had been friends and teammates with (oddly enough, before both of them had died and been resurrected) had been intelligent, impulsive, spunky, and stubborn. The current one was all of those things still, yet clearly more mature, colder, and though Doug hated to admit it because he loved her like a sister, far more attractive. If pressed, he would have been forced to admit that his primary concern over sharing a bed with her had less to do with trusting himself around her, and more to do with the fear of what she might decide to do to him for her own amusement.

However, Illyana was firmly against returning to Utopia, a decision immediately supported by Piotr, Jubilee, and Penance (they assumed she wanted to be nowhere near Emplate). They also rejected Logan's offer to come to the Jean Grey School, mostly because Nicole felt they'd become lost in the crowd, and Penance's issues might become secondary, whereas Illyana was willing to address them immediately. However, despite everything Illyana knew about magic, she was reluctant to try reversing Emplate's spell herself. She maintained that magic was best undone by the original spell caster, and tampering by others without a precise understanding of the original spell could result in a further transformation, possible harm, or even death. Because she had no idea who Penance had been before the transformation, it was nearly impossible to determine how radically she'd been changed, and so the only one with any real working knowledge of the spell was, and likely always would be, Emplate. Still, she wanted to exhaust all possible safe alternatives before dealing with Emplate directly, and planned to schedule a consult with Doctor Strange (through Cyclops, so he would at least feel he was being kept in the know) in the near future.

They were still ironing out the details of their new location when Spider-Man poked his masked head in and said they had a phone call from Emma Frost. Jubilee immediately assumed that they (namely she) were in some sort of trouble, but it was just the opposite: as a reward for rescuing Laura Kinney (and for not straining relations with the Avengers in the process), Emma was offering them the use of the Massachusetts Academy as a base, even if it turned out to be a temporary one. Normally, Illyana would have at least hesitated or given the matter more thought, but she accepted immediately after gauging her teammates' reactions. Most importantly, Penance still thought of the school largely as home, and to an extent, so did Jubilee, Nicole, and Claudette. Doug also wanted Claudette to be in a familiar, comfortable environment for their first official session. Pleased with their acceptance, Emma promised to have Storm arrange some cloud cover within the hour, so that Jubilee wouldn't need to worry about the sun when they arrived. With the arrangements made, everyone was in a good mood, which Illyana felt was as good a time as any for a little team meeting.

So, on the front lawn of Avengers Academy (and with Spider-Man looking on, partially because he was nosy, but friendly and neighborly enough where no one seemed to mind it), Illyana introduced them to Ferog.

The reactions were about what she'd expected.

Piotr had seen enough demons by now where even one as ugly as Ferog didn't really bother him, especially if Illyana was fond of it. Jubilee was curious in a way that implied this was either not her first demon, or not her first hideously ugly ally (that or she just found some gross things to be equally cool). Nicole recoiled but at least tried to hide it, which Illyana could understand since she hadn't really prepped them for this, having wanted their honest reactions. Penance just stared, but at least did not react with violence. Claudette alone showed signs of wanting to pet the demon, which Illyana allowed in an attempt to ease Nicole's tension. And, of course, if Spider-Man had any reaction, no one could see it through his mask.

"Everyone, this is Ferog," Illyana announced. "Obviously he's a demon, but he is also in my care."

"As in he's a friend or a pet?" Jubilee asked.

Illyana opened her mouth to respond, paused, and frowned. "I have only thought of him as a loyal follower so far. The rest is up for debate, I suppose."

"Well, can he talk?"

"No, but not for the reasons you might think. Demons get bored, just like humans do. To amuse themselves, they sometimes play games with extremely high stakes."

"You mean like they bet their lairs or something?"

"What I mean is that when I found Ferog, he had lost his memory, his will, his very soul. He was essentially an empty vessel, and the only reason he didn't waste away is because I saved him. Even now, he only acts when I will him to. It's not a perfect solution, but it keeps him alive and out of trouble."

"Ferog," Nicole said slowly. "Wait... Gofer?"

"Very good, Nicole. Though Gofer is not exactly a name that would go over well among demons. Most of them are, as a rule, not very bright, but they still don't care to be insulted in such an obvious manner. Otherwise, the name is descriptive enough."

"So what does he do when he's not with you?" Spider-Man asked.

"It varies. I try to keep him occupied with small tasks, but if there are none, I simply command him to sleep. So long as he is given a purpose and a small portion of power every so often, he shouldn't die. Not from inactivity, anyway."

Nicole frowned at her. "But he's not really... alive, is he? If you have to tell him how to live, or even to live at all..."

While that was something that Illyana had considered more than once, it was still something she didn't like hearing. "He's alive enough," she insisted.

Nicole took the hint and backed off. "Sorry. Claudette seems to like him well enough. And so long as I don't have to touch him, I guess he's okay."

Illyana nodded. "I simply want you all to be aware of him, so you will not be... as startled when he shows up later."

Spider-Man watched Claudette sit in the grass and cuddle Ferog like a baby for a moment, then shook his head. "Well, it's hard to have an issue with him when I see that. Not really sure where to approach this from a moral standpoint, either. But if you're the only thing keeping the little guy alive, and he isn't hurting anyone, no complaints from me."

"Yeah, same here," Jubilee chimed in. "We needed a team mascot, anyway."

Illyana stared at her, silently trying to decide if that was an insult, then promptly gave up. She knelt in the grass beside Claudette and Ferog, watching them play. Illyana found the sight more sad than anything else. She was commanding Ferog to play, an easy feat thanks to the small portion of her magic that she had embedded in him. Commanding him to enjoy playing, to recall that enjoyment later, and to associate Claudette with the enjoyment in the future, required more effort on Illyana's part. And she honestly wasn't sure if it was worth it. She had no way of knowing if Claudette would lose interest in Ferog later on. If so, Illayana wasn't sure if it was kinder to keep him as a blank slate, or to give him these fleetingly happy moments to dwell on later. All she knew for sure was that she wanted him to live. But as Nicole had pointed out in her own way, Illyana herself was no longer sure what all that included. Yet it was all so simple for Claudette, because she would always be protected and surrounded by love. She could afford to hold onto her childlike innocence, while Illyana felt she had lost her own so long ago that she barely ever remembered having it at all. It never would have occurred to her to view Ferog as a friend, and certainly not a playmate.

Without realizing she had done so, Illyana reached out and placed her hand on Claudette's shoulder. "Thank you for accepting him, Claudette," she whispered. "Thank you for seeing him as I could not."

Claudette lifted her head, staring blankly at Illyana's face for several seconds. Then she raised her hands, using two fingers to stretch Illyana's lips into a smile.

Nicole knelt beside her twin and grinned. "We agree by a vote of two to one. You look much prettier when you're smiling."

* * *

Though Monet actually did plan to leave Avengers Academy before her sisters, she ended up staying behind even after they'd left. After giving the matter of Penance's spell some thought, she'd realized that there was one source of information on the grounds they hadn't tried yet. Granted, it wasn't an obvious one, and Illyana probably hadn't tried out of professional pride (Monet was certainly not in the habit of asking anyone for help, so she could understand that much). But Penance had been suffering in silence for years, and it was time to call in all last resorts, even if it meant another confrontation with Marius himself.

Monet found her source in the gym, sparring with Laura Kinney. Oddly enough, Laura looked like she was losing, but was taking it rather well. Monet waited for a break in the exchange before announcing her presence by knocking on the open door.

"Your sisters have already left," Laura said at once. "I was under the impression that you had as well."

"I was under the impression that you required no further combat training," Monet replied.

"So was I, until he gave me ten black eyes within two minutes," Laura answered, gesturing to her partner.

"I was only trying to make a point," the man said. "There are a surprising number of people that excel in hand-to-hand combat at superhuman speeds."

Monet stared at Laura, seeing no indication of bruising on her face. "Your healing factor is back at full strength, I see."

"That isn't why you're here."

"No," Monet agreed, turning to the man. "I was hoping I could have a moment of your time."

"That earns you a break, Laura," her partner suggested, tossing her a towel.

"Two minutes?" Laura asked.

He smirked. "I'm feeling generous today. Let's make it three."

Laura nodded and immediately began sprinting around the gym, at what was probably a relaxed pace for her.

Monet stared at the man as he watched Laura for a moment. He was tall, slim but covered in tightly toned muscles, and stood in a way that suggested he knew how good he looked and was quite proud of that fact. There didn't seem to be a drop of sweat on him. This was more or less what she had expected from Pietro Maximoff, but it was still rather intimidating to be in his presence.

Pietro finally gave Monet his full attention. "You want to ask about Wanda," he stated. His tone suggested that this was not a topic he wanted to discuss at length.

"Not exactly," Monet replied. "I have a problem involving black magic, and I need some advice. I guess I was hoping-"

"That I was familiar enough with my sister's magic to be of some help? Doubtful, but I'm listening."

"My brother put a spell on Penance, which is responsible for the way she is now. I want to break it."

Pietro closed his eyes briefly. "I'm going to tell you something I learned about magic years ago, since you seem to be a young woman blessed with a higher intelligence: magic is not for the smart, but for the skilled. I have seen certified geniuses flub spells intended for amateurs. I have also seen people that I wouldn't trust to drive a car three feet save the world with their unparalleled magical prowess. In short, the smarter and more determined you are, the more likely you are to make a mistake with magic. My only advice is this: leave it to the experts, the people with years of experience. Try it yourself because you think you're smart enough, and you'll likely make that poor girl's life even worse, if that's possible. I would recommend you try Doctor Strange. He's a rare combination of being both highly skilled and highly approachable. Take advantage of that, before he wakes up one day and realizes nearly every other sorcerer of his talent is a jerk, and that he could easily join them."

"I understand. Thank you." Monet paused and asked, "How is your sister?"

"It's difficult to say. When you grow up as a mutant, you quickly learn that you have a power that sets you apart from humans. Charles Xavier would tell you that you can use that power to change the world. Wanda did that. Only she did it alone and without anyone else's consent. It's not something that most people would be able to live with. She's... adjusting, and will be for some time, I fear. But thank you for asking." Pietro shook his head. "I wasn't much help, was I?"

"You essentially told me the same thing that Illyana did. That tells me it's likely true."

"She's a smart girl. Listen to her. On this, anyway."

"You have doubts about her, too?"

"I have concerns. I was with X-Factor when she died, so I didn't really know her. I know that she meant a great deal to many people, my father included. Now she's back. That happens quite a bit in our circle, I'll admit. But it isn't something we should ever get used to. Because sometimes they just stay dead. And sometimes, we only wish they had."

"I know the feeling," Monet murmured.

"I don't think I can give you much else," Pietro admitted. "But I'm feeling nostalgic all of a sudden. Try calling Avengers Tower. If you're lucky, Beast will be visiting there today, and if you're luckier still, he'll send you anything they have that's even remotely related to black magic. But I suspect that's as far as your luck will get you, because I still think that if Illyana can't fix Penance, your brother is the only one who can."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

* * *

Though there was plenty of space at the Massachusetts Academy for everyone to get their own room, Jubilee claimed one didn't get the full school experience unless they had a roommate. Quite predictably, Nicole and Claudette took a room for themselves, Jubilee and Illyana took the one next to it, and Piotr and Doug took a room across the hall. Penance seemed to prefer roaming the grounds to actually having a room, though the twins went to the trouble of making sure her old room in the basement was ready in case she changed her mind.

Illyana gathered everyone in the kitchen for lunch, and decided it was best to split up for the afternoon.

"Currently, we have two items on our team agenda: breaking Emplate's spell on Penance, and Claudette's first session with Doug. I have one idea I'd like to try with Penance, and I'd like Jubilee and Nicole to help with that. Peter will sit in on Claudette's session so that she has a familiar face around for comfort."

"You just don't want me in there with her, right?" Nicole asked.

"No," Illyana replied at once.

"Yes and no," Doug added. "Nicole, the goal of these sessions is to help Claudette communicate. You tend to do all the communicating for her. It's a bit counterproductive for what I have in mind. No offense."

"And I really do need your help with Penance, Nicole," Illyana explained. "She trusts you and Jubilee, and this idea I have isn't exactly the kind of thing one looks forward to."

Nicole frowned but didn't argue. "Fine. Peter, I'm trusting you with Claudette again. Doug doesn't look like he could hurt anyone, but all the same..."

"Why am I still the bad guy?" Doug complained.

"Because I still don't really know you yet."

"Rest assured that I have always known Douglas to be a gentleman and a scholar," Illyana said.

Doug smiled at her. "Thanks, Illyana."

"Also, I can beat him up."

Nicole grinned. "Okay then."

Doug scowled at them. "I hate you both."

As they begin to separate into two groups, Jubilee pulled Piotr to the side.

"Okay, what's up with you?" she demanded. "You've been really quiet today. You're not getting weird on me because of the kissing, are you?"

"No," he assured her. "That, I enjoyed immensely."

She grinned up at him. "Cool. So what is the problem?"

"Jubilee, are we... dating now?"

"What, you had time since we kissed to find another girl you like?"

"No, but I need to know. It's important to me."

"Then yes, I guess we are. So I can assume there will be no other girls?"

Piotr smiled. "Of course there won't."

"Then what's the big deal? Why did you need to know?"

"Because I want to be honest with myself, and I am not ashamed of any relationship I have been in."

Jubilee frowned at him. "Okay, I'm confused. What is it you're not saying?"

"...I want to tell Kitty."

She gaped at him. "What, about us? Why would you want to do that? Isn't she mad enough already?"

"Yes. But if I don't tell her as soon as it happens, and she finds out from someone else, she will be angry, hurt, and disappointed. While our break-up was not mutual, I do not wish to hurt her. And I am not ashamed of being with you, Jubilee. I see no reason to hide this."

Jubilee sighed and scratched her head. "Okay, fine. You have a point, and I guess if it was us breaking up, I'd want the same courtesy. Not that I ever expect us to, so don't you go getting any ideas. But I want it understood that if Pryde tries to haunt us, I'm totally willing to get into a vamp versus ghost-girl cat-fight over you."

"Jubilee, I do not think you can actually hurt Kitty while she is phased."

"I'm an X-Man. We're masters of the mutant workaround. I'll find a way. Now gimme some love, because I'm suddenly feeling really insecure."

Piotr drew her into his large arms and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Jubilee. I know this isn't easy."

"It's not 'becoming-a-vamp' difficult, either," she murmured into his chest. "I'll manage."

* * *

"This is not going to appear pleasant, but it is necessary," Illyana said as she lead Nicole, Jubilee, and Penance into the woods surrounding the school.

"Well, is there ever a pleasant way to break an evil spell?" Nicole asked from behind her.

"Yes. Just not this one. You can thank Emplate for that."

"As long as we don't have to sacrifice any virgins, I think I can manage." This earned Nicole two very long looks from Illyana and Jubilee, so she felt the need to explain. "Because I assume Penance and I are the only virgins here, and obviously we can't sacrifice her, so-"

Jubilee grabbed Nicole's ear and tugged. "Just stop now before I have Penny dig a tunnel in the dirt, and we stick you in it headfirst."

Nicole squealed in pain. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry! We're all virgins!"

"Stop saying that! I'll tell you when it's okay to start going on and on about virgins!"

"...which I guess leaves me to tell her when it's okay to begin sacrificing them," Illyana added.

Jubilee shot her a flat look. "Was that just a very bad joke, or a speaking point on your resume?"

Illyana looked perfectly serious. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Nicole stared at her in horror. "You've really sacrificed a virgin?"

"It's very likely. Mind you, most were probably demons that were too hideous to mate, but there may have been some evil humans who were also never going to have sex in the first place."

"Okay, then what about innocent virgins?"

"Do we really have to keep talking about this?!" Jubilee demanded, grabbing Nicole's ear again.

"Ow! Why aren't you grabbing her ear?!" Nicole cried. "She's the one that's sacrificed virgins!"

"Evil, mostly demonic virgins," Illyana corrected at once.

Jubilee glared at them. "I have absolutely no problem repeating this conversation word-for-word for the listening pleasure of both your older siblings, you know. Poor Penny is traumatized enough as it is."

Illyana rolled her eyes. "Very well, this is far enough."

"Great. And what's this idea?" Jubilee asked, releasing Nicole's ear but moving her hand to Nicole's shoulder, as a reminder that her ear was still in grabbing distance.

"You remember my Soulsword?"

"That funky sword that comes out of thin air?"

"It actually comes out of Limbo, where I normally keep it, but yes. It has the ability to shatter virtually any kind of magic."

"Then why didn't we try this before?" Nicole asked.

"Because it must stay in Limbo for a number of reasons, and these days I use it only as a last resort. But I am willing to use it for Penance's sake. The problem is that it must penetrate her to do any good, and I need her to understand that it cannot physically cut her. I can't exactly ask you two to hold her down."

"And this will definitely work?"

"I have a theory as to why it might not, if that helps. But I would need to test it with the Soulsword first to be sure."

"I'll explain it to her," Nicole offered. She turned to Penance and began a series of complicated gestures, ending with pretending to thrust a sword into her own chest. Penance seemed mildly alarmed by this.

"I can accomplish this merely by penetrating her hand with the sword," Illyana added.

Nicole blinked. "Oh. Well, you should have said that first!" She went through all of gestures again, this time pretending to drive a sword through her hand. Penance glanced uncertainly at her own hands, but eventually nodded slowly.

"How does she know what any of that meant?" Jubilee asked.

"It's impossible to explain unless you've been trapped in her body," Nicole replied.

"Really?"

"Nope. But that's probably got something to do with it, anyway. If this works, I'm sure she wouldn't mind explaining it to you."

As Jubilee had described, Illyana did seem to pull the Soulsword out of thin air. She immediately pressed the point of the blade into the back of Penance's hand, far enough until the blade poked through on the other side. Without warning, the sword vanished, and Penance scrambled back, her eyes wide.

"Every second the sword is away from Limbo is crucial," Illyana explained. "Otherwise I would have been more considerate. Sorry."

Everyone stared at Penance's hand for a long moment, until there was finally a visible change: a tiny spiderweb of cracks in her palm, but nothing else.

"Is that it?" Nicole asked. "Did it work?"

"Yes and no," Illyana sighed. "It's as I feared. The spell is still in effect, but the Soulsword has done all it can do for Penance directly. But this is progress."

"How?" Jubilee asked.

"Those cracks on her hand indicate that the sword did have some impact, which confirms my theory. But it leaves us with another issue: to fully break the spell, I also need to penetrate Emplate with the Soulsword. Which means returning to Utopia and getting permission to do so."

"Oh, is that all? I thought it was going to be something tough, like taking down Apocalypse by ourselves."

"I don't know who that is, but he's got my vote," Nicole said weakly.

* * *

Doug chose the Massachusetts Academy's rec room for the first session. Though he initially had his doubts about how Claudette would respond without the other girls around, she quickly proved him wrong. From all indications, she was entirely comfortable with Piotr, and at the very least considered Doug a friendly authority figure. Once it was clear that Claudette was willing to communicate, Doug began to explain his theory. Just from observing the twins together, he had realized that they spoke to each other on several different levels at any given time. While the telepathic rapport between them was responsible for most of the talking, Claudette's stupors greatly reduced its effectiveness at times. Apparently without realizing it, Nicole had compensated for this with touch: each touch meant something different, and also without realizing it, Claudette had begun to respond to them, even while in her stupors. Granted, Claudette could generally only respond to simple requests such as standing, walking, or sitting in that state, but so long as it was Nicole doing the touching, she always responded. It was pretty much hit or miss with anyone else, but Doug felt this could be improved if the twins were made aware of the opportunity. At the very least, he hoped that Monet could eventually be included.

Doug had expected this to be a long, drawn-out process, but he was shocked to find that Claudette had learned the majority of the touches with Piotr in just under an hour. Clearly there was a high level of trust between them, but this strongly implied that Claudette trusted Piotr, who she hadn't yet known a week, more than she did Monet. It made Doug seriously question Monet's assumption that Claudette couldn't help who she was able to connect with mentally. So far Claudette was only connecting at all with people she clearly felt close to, and the strongest connections implied the stronger bonds. Even Doug was able to get her to consistently answer yes or no questions with head nods and shakes after a few tries, which really made him wonder where Monet had gone wrong. Then he realized that the answer was sitting right in front of him.

"Claudette, do you know why Monet has so much trouble talking to you?" he asked.

Claudette nodded, but offered no further explanation.

"Will you show me why?"

She gave him a slower, more hesitant nod, and then extended her hands to he and Piotr.

Doug wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to happen, but the moment his fingers touched hers, his stomach flipped over and the world went dark around him. He was only vaguely aware of Piotr shouting Nicole's name somewhere nearby, and instantly understood that whatever was happening to them now, Claudette was in complete control, for better or for worse.

* * *

Illyana's group was walking back to the school when Nicole froze, a look of alarm on her face.

"What's wrong?" Jubilee asked at once, touching her arm.

"Claudette and the boys are in some kind of trouble. I heard Peter call me through Claudette."

Without being asked, Illyana created a portal that deposited them in the rec room. Doug, Claudette, and Piotr were seated on the couch, holding hands, and had matching blank expressions on their faces.

"She took them in," Nicole murmured. "On purpose. Why would she...?"

"You're sure this wasn't an accident?" Jubilee questioned.

"I'm sure. They're holding hands, the stupors aren't contagious, and Claudette can't really trigger them. For the boys to be in it with her, she had to pull them into her mind before it started. The stupor is just a side effect of that. They're most likely to occur in moments of intense focus."

"But they'll come out of it, right?"

"Eventually," Nicole sighed. "But there's no telling how long it'll take, and it won't do any good to try interrupting them. All I can tell you is that Claudette had a reason, but I have no idea what it was."

"How long has the longest stupor lasted?" Illyana asked.

"In her own body, hours. When we were the false Monet, months. The few times I got dragged in with her, almost twelve hours exactly each time."

"So we should hope for a matter of hours, then."

Nicole shrugged. "She's never taken two people in, Illyana. I don't know what else to tell you."

"Do you think there's reason she wouldn't wait for you to return?"

Nicole frowned at her. "What are you implying?"

"There's no doubt in my mind this would have been safer if you had been here. Claudette did it without you. I think that was intentional."

"Because I might have stopped her?"

"Because Claudette didn't want to take you in with them, for some reason."

Nicole shook her head. "That makes no sense. We have no secrets from each other, and I'm not just saying that. Each time I combine with one of my siblings, all of our secrets are exposed to each other. There's literally nothing I don't know about Claudette's life before the last time we combined in that other dimension."

"I'm sure you believe that," Illyana replied. "But Monet herself said that Claudette's mental shields have always been impressive. And if all of your secrets were truly exposed, then after the last time you combined with your brother, you should not only know exactly how to cast the spell that created Penance, but how to undo it. Clearly, this is not the case. So maybe all of your secrets aren't truly exposed, or you just don't have that particular secret in your mind."

"But Claudette does," Jubilee murmured. "Maybe that's why she needs Doug to see it. He could memorize the spell and write it down once they come back!"

"Even if that were true, that doesn't explain why she took Peter in," Nicole pointed out.

"There's almost only one reason anyone would ever include my brother in a mission," Illyana said. "This must not be a secret that can be easily obtained. There's going to be a fight."

* * *

When the darkness faded, Piotr found himself in a tree-filled forest. He knew at once that it wasn't real, or at least normal: the trees seemed too brightly colored, and they were constantly swaying slightly, despite there being no wind. Doug was staring at a tree himself, murmuring softly, and he only stopped when Piotr spoke up.

"Where are we?"

"Claudette's mind," Doug answered. "That explains why she isn't here with us. Although I was still expecting her to have some sort of psychic avatar. Even without that, maybe she can still guide us somehow. Otherwise we have no option but to wander around aimlessly."

"You asked her to show you why Monet has trouble communicating with her. Could these trees be the answer? Perhaps they represent something?"

"They could be _an_ answer," Doug admitted. "But somehow, I think they're the answer to a different question."

Before Piotr could ask what he meant, there was a noise behind them. Piotr spun around, only to find a woman walking toward them. He knew at once that she was a St. Croix: she looked a great deal like an older version of Monet, and she moved with a grace that seemed to indicate a life spent chiefly among high society. She wore a simple green dress that was slightly too long, judging by the way the end of it pooled around her bare feet and dragged along behind her. Piotr almost called out to her, but saw at once that it would be pointless: there was a glassy look to her eyes, and she did not actually seem aware of their presence. Indeed, she walked past them without even turning her head.

"She's Claudette's mother, or at least a representation of her," Doug said at last. "We should follow her."

"Why didn't she notice us?" Piotr asked as they began to follow at a distance.

"It's hard to say. Maybe she was autistic, too. Or maybe Claudette has simply combined the memory of her mother with aspects of herself. Or maybe this is actually a memory, so its path is already set in stone and we can't interact with it."

Claudette's mother soon came to a white gazebo that suddenly appeared in the forest. She slowly ascended the three steps and then simply stopped.

Doug moved to follow, but suddenly a gray, clawed hand burst from the ground and grabbed his foot. Piotr yanked him back by the collar as Emplate emerged from the ground, the clawed mouth on each of his palms opening and closing hungrily.

"Okay, not a memory," Doug muttered. "And thanks."

"Definitely not a memory," Piotr agreed, shifting to his steel form as more copies of Emplate began to burst from the ground all around them. He noted that they were entirely focused on the two of them, and seemed to be ignoring Claudette's mother. "I'm not completely familiar with your power, Doug. Can you fight without touching them?"

Doug winced. "Yes. Dani actually gave me a collapsible staff for just such an occasion. She's paranoid that way."

"And you're unhappy about this?"

"I'm unhappy that I left the staff back in our room, yes. Dani will kill me if she ever finds out that I put it down." He sighed and shook his head. "You're going to tell me that I should stay behind you, right?"

Piotr glanced at him. "On the contrary. I'm the Juggernaut now. You'd be far safer if you were nowhere near me."

"Ah. Running it is, then. I can definitely do running. So the plan is that you clear a path for me, I run, and you just keep hitting them?"

"Basically."

Doug frowned. "Wait. That might be a problem."

"So you don't want me to attack the Emplate clones that are going to attack us?" Piotr demanded.

"Peter, this is still Claudette's mind. These Emplates might be more important than we realize. And even if they aren't, you fighting them will no doubt cause severe damage to the area. You could accidentally destroy part of Claudette's mind."

Piotr gaped at him in horror. "You mean that I almost-?"

"We don't know for sure," Doug said quickly. "But we can't risk it. That means we both run until we can figure this out."

With no further complaint, Piotr picked up Doug, tucked him under one arm, and ran, easily shoving aside any Emplate clones that got in their way. Though he was at first worried about crashing into a tree, they all seemed to lean out of the way, opening up a clear path for them. Even though the path remained open for the Emplate clones, they moved slowly, and were no match for Piotr's speed. Soon Claudette's mother, the gazebo, and the Emplate clones had faded into the distance, and Piotr finally came to a stop and put Doug down.

"I'm such a fool," Doug whispered at once, a smile spreading across his face. "I should have realized it before!"

"Realized what?" Piotr asked.

"Claudette can hear us! We should have asked her for help from the start!"

"Because it's her mind?"

"That, and because she has to have imprinted my power by now. It explains why she was able to pick up the touches so quickly: she was able to understand my suggestions completely!"

Piotr considered that for a moment. "So all we have to do is ask her for help?"

"I think so. Claudette may be a mind reader, but she's obviously used to Nicole filtering out the non-important things. If we simply tell her exactly what we need, she should be able to help us." Doug pressed his hands against the nearest tree. "Claudette, we need your help. Can you give us a safe way to deal with the Emplate clones?"

At once, a new branch began to sprout from the tree, just above Doug's head. As he and Piotr watched, the branch began to bear fruit: a single, green pod that rapidly began to increase in size. In mere seconds, it was slightly taller and wider than Doug. Though its weight should have been enough to break the branch, instead the pod shook itself loose, breaking open the moment it touched the ground. What rolled out from the broken pod was not food, however, but a human body. A body that shuddered and slowly began to breathe as it opened its eyes for the first time.

Having spent an enormous amount of time reading and updating Utopia's database, Doug recognized the person after a few seconds. "Peter... I can hardly believe I'm saying it, but this is Everett Thomas."

"Not exactly," said the young man as he slowly stood up on shaky legs and brushed off his red and yellow Generation X uniform. "He's dead. All I am is a collection of memories based on him. But I welcome the mistake. In fact, you may as well call me Synch."

"You mean... Claudette grew you?" Piotr whispered. "Is that even possible?"

Synch gave him an amused smile. "Didn't you just escape from a number of Emplate clones? What sort of help did you expect? I could grow more of me if you want, but it isn't really necessary. Claudette provided you with all the help she thought you needed."

Doug nodded slowly. "Just as I thought. That growing ability is a mutant power, if you can synch with it. Is that Claudette's, too?"

For some reason, Synch abruptly stopped smiling. "We should hurry. We don't want to keep her waiting."

Piotr got the odd feeling that Synch wasn't referring to Claudette, but ignored this as he and Doug began to follow their new guide back the way they'd come.

* * *

Nicole sighed and dropped her hands from Claudette's face. "I'm done."

"Did you find anything?" Jubilee asked eagerly. She had been a little concerned when Piotr abruptly shifted to his steel form, apparently in response to something in Claudette's head.

"Not really. Like I told you, the safe zone is there to keep me from getting pulled into Claudette's stupors. So it only makes sense that the area is well shielded from the rest of her mind. She did it to protect me." Nicole reached out and fondly stroked her twin's cheek.

"You two have always been close, huh?"

"No," Nicole said softly. "I can remember a time when I resented her for all the attention she got. In some ways, she was worse than Monet, because she couldn't actually tell our parents to stop focusing on her, and she actually did need the attention. It wasn't fair, but that didn't matter. We were all expected to look after Claudette, because she was the baby. I think I understand at least some of why Marius hates us and her in particular."

Jubilee stared at her in shock. "You don't really mean that, Nicole."

Nicole smiled sadly. "Yes, I do. Once when we were kids, I woke up in the bedroom I shared with Claudette to find her gone. It was the middle of the night, and as a rule we kept the outer doors firmly locked and bolted, but if Claudette was really determined to leave, there's no doubt in my mind that she'd have found a way. I went to look for her, not because she was my sister , but because I knew how much trouble I'd get into if I didn't. Our parents would have blamed me and never forgiven me, even though it wasn't my fault."

"That can't be true!"

"I felt like it was. I looked everywhere, for hours, Jubilee, but she was nowhere to be found. Finally, I gave up and decided to hide in my father's study. He had this old chest in there carved from a tree in Kenya, and he was so proud of it that he never even put anything inside of it. So I thought if I hid there, no one would ever find me. I climbed in and fell asleep. It was almost noon the next day when Marius finally found me. I don't know how he did, but he was so relieved that he forgot to be angry. And he was only that relieved because at some point, Claudette had climbed into the chest and fallen asleep beside me. My parents never even got mad at me. They were happy because I hadn't let anything happen to Claudette, when she could have gotten out of the house and gotten herself kidnapped or killed. That was the first time that I remember actually loving Claudette. She saved me from the worst punishment of my life, even though she would have been the cause of it. She could have ended up anywhere in the house, but she came back to me. If she'd been found anywhere else, I'd have been grounded for life."

"Sounds rough," Jubilee murmured, reaching over to pat Nicole's shoulder.

"Actually, I feel pretty lucky. Families with autistic children usually have lots of problems. Most of our problems had more to do with us being mutants, though. There were always warning signs with Marius, but we ignored them. He was my big brother, and I just assumed he would always love us, no matter how unhappy he was. I learned to love Claudette, after all. I thought he would just magically come to accept his place in the family. Clearly, I was wrong."

* * *

Synch quickly proved himself to be a huge help. Instead of touching or even harming the Emplate clones, he merely encased them with rapidly growing tree bark that sprang up from the ground at his command. Thankfully, these versions of Emplate were based on his latest appearance, so they did not have Penance's diamond-hard skin to fall back on.

While impressed, Doug had become convinced that the growing ability that had created Synch was just one aspect of an overall mutant ability to manipulate plants. He also believed that this ability had not originally belonged to Claudette, if only because she had never displayed it before.

In no time at all, they had retraced their path back the gazebo, where Claudette's mother was still waiting. This time she noticed them at once, and the distaste on her face was obvious. "None but my children can be here," she stated, taking several menacing steps toward them. Her arms seemed to explode into a mass of writhing, thorn-covered vines, and she lunged at them, clearly meaning to attack.

Synch stepped forward, unafraid but also very reluctant. "I am one of your children. Through no fault of my own." He raised his hands, as if meaning to push her back, and began to approach her.

Claudette's mother froze, then shrank back, seeming to not want to touch Synch. He backed her to the other side of the gazebo, where she simply gave up the fight, turned, and fled.

"Don't worry about chasing her," Synch told them. "Everything you're looking for is right here."

"What did you mean about being one of her children?" Piotr asked. "Because Claudette created you?"

Synch shook his head. "Because I am essentially a collection of the original Everett Thomas's experiences, I more or less went through the same things he did. Which means I was also once under Emplate's sway." He showed them his hands, revealing the small, tooth-filled mouths unique to all of Emplate's vampiric slaves. "Don't worry about trusting me any longer. I've done what Claudette created me for. The rest is up to you two." Even as he spoke, his facial features were gradually fading.

"One last question," Doug said. "The plant manipulation belonged to Claudette's mother. I'm sure of that now. Has Claudette not imprinted that power out of respect to her mother's memory?"

"The dead should be allowed to rest, Doug. With their secrets, if they so desire. Please remember that, for Claudette's sake." Synch turned and walked away from the gazebo, quickly vanishing into the forest.

The gazebo suddenly began to spin at a blindingly fast pace. Doug had to grab onto Piotr to keep from falling. Thankfully, the spinning did not last long, and when it stopped, the pair found themselves standing in front of the St. Croix home. There was a black limousine idling in the driveway, and as they watched, Cartier St. Croix emerged from the house, carrying a much younger Claudette. Nicole hopped up and down just behind them, obviously excited about going out, while Monet held her hand and tried to keep her from running ahead. Even after they piled into the limo and left, the door remained open. Doug sensed at once that this was not part of the memory, but an invitation for them to enter the house.

Inside, they found exactly what Doug had been fearing: the day that Marius's mutant power had first emerged, combined with his never-ending need to feed on mutant marrow. They saw Marius's mother, afraid of the change in him but unable to ignore one of her children in clear agony. They also saw Marius turn on his mother, feeding on her marrow until she crumpled to the ground, not dead but close enough to it where there was no hope of recovery. Even that much had been recorded in Emplate's file in Utopia's database.

But what followed had most certainly not been in the file. It erased all doubt in Doug's mind that Marius St. Croix still existed somewhere deep down in Emplate, and proved to him once and for all that Emplate was and always would be a monster.

* * *

When Doug, Piotr, and Claudette finally emerged from the stupor, not one of them moved or said a word. Nicole only noticed because the usual static that flooded her telepathic rapport with Claudette during the stupors suddenly ceased, and Illyana had been watching closely enough where she saw the change in their breathing.

"Guys? Are you okay?" Nicole asked, drawing Jubilee's attention.

Doug slowly shook his head. He turned to Claudette and immediately hugged her tightly. This was only odd because Claudette offered no resistance, closing her eyes and leaning the embrace. "You poor, poor girl," he murmured into her hair.

Piotr stood up and moved across the room, to where Penance crouched on the floor. She gazed at him only with curiosity, already used to his presence. She was therefore more startled than anyone when he knelt down, carefully gathered her in his steel arms, and simply held her. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so, so sorry we weren't able to help you sooner."

Penance stared at him for a few seconds, then closed her eyes and relaxed.

"What happened?" Nicole demanded. "What's wrong?"

"Claudette showed us what she needed us to see," Doug finally answered. "It answers many questions we had. Most importantly, we know exactly who Penance is, and that's why we can't allow her to remain in this form a moment longer." He turned to Illyana. "I know you have issues with going back to Utopia, but as a friend, I'm asking you to get over them now. This cannot and should not wait, Illyana. Please. Whatever you have to do to get some time with Emplate, do it."

Illyana nodded, saying nothing.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?!" Nicole shouted. "Who is Penance? What did you see?"

Doug sighed. "We can't tell you, Nicole. Claudette was very clear about that. She showed us only so we could do something about it. But she wants the secret to remain just that for now: a secret. Once Penance is restored, you'll understand exactly why she couldn't tell you."

Nicole turned to Claudette, clearly unhappy with this. "Why? What aren't you telling me, Claudette?"

Claudette withdrew from Doug's arms and shook her head firmly.

"Claudette, please! If this is about Penance, I have every right-"

Claudette shook her head harder, clapping her hands over her ears.

Nicole tried to pull Claudette's hands away. "That isn't fair! We shouldn't have secrets from-"

Claudette jumped up from the couch, shoving past Nicole and breaking into a wild run. She did not head for the open doorway, as expected, but instead ran straight at the far wall with her head lowered, clearly intending to knock herself out. Illyana was thankfully faster, placing a portal in Claudette's path that transported her from one end of the room to just above the couch, where she was dropped safely. Realizing what had happened, Claudette immediately tried to repeat the process, but Nicole jumped on her and pinned her to the couch. Claudette began to trash her body wildly, trying to break free.

"Claudette, stop!" Nicole cried. "Please stop!"

Claudette shook her head hard, and as a last resort, finally tried to headbutt Nicole, but Jubilee grabbed her head before she could.

"Nicole, _you_ stop," Jubilee ordered. "If poor Claudette would bash her brains to keep herself from telling you this secret, it has to be huge and painful."

At this, Claudette finally stopped struggling, instead burying her face in the couch cushion to avoid Nicole's eyes. Nicole simply stared at her twin with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Nicole, Claudette has good reason for this," Doug whispered. "This secret is so important to her that she's even been willing to risk her relationship with you and Monet to keep it."

Nicole's eyes widened as she turned to him. "You mean the reason Monet has so much trouble talking to her-"

"Is because Claudette purposely strengthens her psi-shields when they do. All to protect this horrible secret."

"No," Nicole gasped, turning back to Claudette. "No!" She grabbed Claudette's head, forcing their eyes to meet. "You promised me, Claudette! You promised that if there was ever something that hurtful in one of our lives, we would share the burden so that neither would have to suffer alone!"

Claudette's eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head as much as Nicole's grip would allow.

"You can't do this! It's not your place to go this far to protect me, Claudette!" Nicole cried, shaking her. "We protect each other together! We're strongest together! That was our promise!"

"Then think about what might be so painful to you and Monet that Claudette would feel the need to break that promise," Piotr suggested.

Nicole looked as if she wanted to argue, but suddenly froze with her mouth hanging open. Then her expression crumpled, and she collapsed onto Claudette, sobbing and clutching her desperately.

Claudette shut her eyes tightly, wrapping her arms around Nicole and stroking her hair.

Doug grimaced and shook his head. "She knows."

Jubilee looked at him in surprise. "You mean Claudette caved?"

"No. But Nicole is a smart girl, and she's been a twin all of her life. She knows there's really only one thing Claudette would ever try to hide from her at such a high cost. Once she thought about it, I'm sure it was obvious to her. That's the real shame of it."

Nicole slowly lifted her head and looked into Claudette's worried eyes. "Oh, my sweet twin," she sighed, leaning forward to drop kisses on Claudette's cheeks and nose. "You should have told me. We could have hidden it from Monet together. She's convinced herself that we don't love her as much now, anyway. And if we lose her the same way we did Marius-"

"That isn't going to happen," Piotr interrupted. "What was done to Penance was only one person's fault, and we're going to fix that immediately."

"But the X-Men won't just let us see him," Jubilee pointed out.

"Actually, they will," Illyana disagreed. "I've planned for this eventuality. Well, not exactly for this, but for something reasonably like it. You made me the leader for a reason, and now I'll show you what all that includes. Penance will be restored, and Emplate will be dealt with. I give you my word on that."

* * *

Minutes later, the entire group was standing in Utopia's transport bay, staring up at the rather imposing figure of Magneto as he touched down in front of them.

"Sorry to drop in unannounced, sir," Doug apologized, "but this is an emergency."

Magneto placed a hand on his shoulder. "Any day I see both you and Illyana alive is a welcome one, son. But I will admit that calling ahead would have been appreciated, especially if you're here for the reason I think you are." His gaze lingered on Nicole, Claudette, and Penance.

Doug nodded. "Probably. Sort of. But-"

"We are here to right a wrong," Illyana interrupted. "Specifically, the wrongful imprisonment of a comrade."

"...you had better not mean Emplate," Magneto replied.

"She means Penance," Doug explained. "We know how to restore her to her rightful form. But we'll need access to Emplate."

"Danger," Magneto said to the metallic blue figure that instantly appeared just over his shoulder, "please tell Cyclops that we have guests."

Illyana spoke up. "Tell him the Rasputin squad is here on team business."

"I don't remember getting a vote on the team name," Nicole complained.

"It's only the name we'll use for official X-Men business," Illyana told her patiently. "You didn't get to vote because it wasn't up for debate. You are all my family, and that should go without saying."

Nicole smiled. "Oh. Okay. So long as there's a good reason, sis. But don't think for a second that we're not going to corner you and hug you the moment this is over with."

Illyana sighed, but did not bother complaining.

* * *

Cyclops was not pleased, not that anyone had expected him to be. Still, he did not outright refuse to let them see Emplate. There was just a laundry list of conditions beforehand, the first of which was that only Illyana and Nicole would be allowed into the X-Brig. He gave them the rest as they rode the express elevator down.

"Illyana is the only one that needs to get anywhere near Emplate. Magneto goes along as her guard, and Nicole observes. Once you're in the cell, you'll have twenty seconds to get this done and get out. Either of you tries anything funny, and Magneto will cripple you first and ask questions later. Don't let it come to that."

Illyana stared at him. "Goodness, Scott. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you didn't trust me."

He gave her a sharp look. "I trusted you right up until you told me why you were here. Emplate is a dangerous man with or without mutants to feed on, and the last thing we need is him armed with your power."

"But you can't possibly think that I would want him to be free?"

"So long as you behave and do only what you said you're here for, we won't have any problems."

Nicole gave Magneto a long, considering look. "Would you really cripple us?"

He nodded. "If it meant Emplate would never create another vampiric slave or be free? In an instant. We have talented healers here. Depending on how badly you misbehave, we might even let you see one afterward."

Once the elevator reached its destination, everyone but Cyclops walked out.

"I'll be waiting here, listening in and observing," he told them, indicating a small screen built into his left glove. "This is the only way out. Illyana, you try to teleport out and it won't be pleasant, trust me."

"You know, for not expecting us, you guys seem pretty over-prepared," Nicole murmured as they walked away.

"With good reason," Magneto replied at once. "We don't want him escaping."

"But I'm not escaping," said a raspy voice as they stepped into the viewing area. "Escape is the furthest thing from my mind right now."

Nicole swallowed hard, stopping abruptly and staring at the prisoner. Though he was confined in a water-filled tank in the center of the cell, she was hardly aware of the distance. "Big brother," she whispered, starting to touch the glass in the viewing area, but then thinking twice about it.

"I've told you countless times, Nicole," Emplate sighed weakly, his voice amplified by the built-in microphone in the respirator fitted over his face, "I'm no longer your brother. That part of me died long ago. There is no Marius, there is only Emplate."

"You'll have to forgive me if I choose not to accept that. We both know that if I touched you right now, I'd still be able to combine with you. So long as that's true, my brother you are and my brother you'll remain, Marius. And while I hate seeing you like this, I'm glad you're alive, at least."

"I'm sorry, Nicole, but we're wasting precious time," Illyana said.

"You mean just being supremely annoying wasn't your primary reason for visiting me?" Emplate chuckled. "Consider me shocked."

"We are here to release Penance from the spell you placed on her. Know now that I can simply remove it by force, but I'm giving you a chance to do it willingly."

"And why would I ever do something as foolish as that? Out of the supposed goodness of my supposed heart? Try again, little girl."

"Because I am proposing a trade. You undo the spell, and I give you something in return." Illyana paused and said a word in another language, which sounded a great deal like "flusjet". Nicole didn't recognize the word or the language. Magneto did, as all of the conversation had been pre-approved, so far. In any case, Emplate clearly knew the word and the language, because his eyes widened, and then he laughed. "You are free to doubt my word, but not my capabilities, Emplate," Illyana warned him.

"I must admit that you amuse me, Illyana Rasputin," Emplate replied. "But your offer does not impress me. I have absolutely no desire to see Penance restored. Indeed, I wish for her to suffer endlessly. I will not help you, not for any price, and certainly not for a promise that you have no intention of keeping."

"Then I will shatter your spell and leave you with nothing but your public shame."

Emplate's eyes narrowed. "Do what you wish, child. But my plans are not so easily broken. Even if you did manage to restore Penance, her suffering would not end. In fact, I guarantee that it would only increase. Either way, I win, she loses, and you will have made no real difference in either of our lives at all."

Illyana turned to Magneto, nodded, and approached the cell door with him. As she raised her hand to push it open, Illyana paused and stared hard at Emplate.

"Having second thoughts?" Emplate asked.

"I am. You seem far too unconcerned. This is a trick, isn't it? The moment I break your spell, it will backfire on Penance, won't it?"

"I suppose there really is only one way to find out. Unless you're afraid, that is."

Glaring at him, Illyana pushed the cell door open, carefully stepping only on the tiles that Danger had instructed her to. As she neared Emplate, she drew the Soulsword out of the air and, with a cruel smirk, thrust it directly through the tank's surface and into Emplate's chest. His body gave a sharp jerk, and his breathing sped up considerably, but this was due more to his expecting pain than anything else.

After a few seconds, Emplate snorted. "Looks like you failed."

"Looks can be deceiving," Illyana answered, turning her back on him just as a portal opened on the floor, swallowing the entire tank whole. Instantly, her entire body jerked to a stop as Magneto seized control of the iron content in her blood.

"That was a big mistake, Illyana," he said softly.

"Then do what you must," she invited.

"Illyana, no!" Nicole cried. "What are you doing?! He'll really cripple you!"

But Illyana did not seem concerned, and for good reason, which Nicole soon caught onto as well: Magneto was hesitating.

"You know I don't want to do this to you, Illyana," he said. "You were once one of my prized students."

Illyana nodded. "And you were once a man I had complete faith in. We failed each other, but hating you for that now requires an amount of effort I am no longer willing to devote to such meaningless pursuits."

"Then don't let it end like this. Just bring Emplate back now and Cyclops might be lenient."

"I can't do that. I swore an oath to take care of family business. Besides, by now the wards on Emplate's tank will have activated, and he should be in excruciating pain. Do you want his suffering to have been for nothing?"

"Honestly, I don't care if he suffers or not. But I won't let you get away with this."

Illyana's gaze shifted to Nicole. "For what it's worth, I meant everything I said earlier. The family comes first." Another portal opened beneath her feet, allowing her to drop out of sight, but not before Nicole caught a glimpse of the small, green demon that had apparently opened the portal in the first place.

Magneto cursed under his breath as the portal snapped shut, while Nicole sank to her knees.

"She lied to me," Nicole whispered in disbelief. "She lied to all of us."

"I doubt it," Magneto answered. "Whatever Illyana's done with Emplate, I imagine she really thinks she is doing you a favor. But you may as well get comfortable, because none of you are going anywhere until she comes back."

* * *

Completely unaware of what had happened below them, Jubilee, Piotr, Penance, Claudette, and Doug were having a snack in a locked conference room. They had been told they couldn't leave, but Doug had simply used the phone to call Dani Moonstar. Ten minutes later, Dani brought them two dozen doughnuts, along with plenty of orange juice and milk, and repeated the instructions to stay put before locking them back in. While it was true that Claudette, and to some degree, even Penance, had telepathic connections to Nicole, neither one gave any sign that they sensed something was amiss. In fact, Claudette was carefully tearing her doughnuts in half and feeding portions to Penance, who soon had a fine dusting of powdered sugar on her lips.

Everyone noticed at once when Penance's red skin developed numerous cracks all over it. Starting with the hand that Illyana's Soulsword had pierced, the armor began to gradually fall away in pieces. The first large chunk to break off revealed that underneath, Penance's true hand was both a rich brown and rather on the dainty side, neither proving much of a surprise. By the time all the armor had fallen away, no one was really too surprised at all: Piotr and Doug had learned Penance's true identity while in Claudette's mind, and Jubilee had simply associated her with the St. Croixs for so long that she would have been more shocked if Penance had managed to look like anyone else. Although Jubilee did find it a little unsettling that Penance's true form looked almost exactly like Monet had at seventeen, and privately hoped that she didn't have the same attitude as well. She would have been even more unsettled had she known that the simple green dress the girl was wearing was the same one from Claudette's memory, and more importantly, was technically the same dress that Claudette's mother had been wearing when she died.

After several minutes of no one speaking, Doug slowly stood up. "Hello, Ms. St. Croix. Welcome back."

The girl that had been Penance immediately collapsed to the floor, barely able to breathe properly with the uncontrollable sobbing fit that seized her.

Claudette knelt down, drew the girl's head into her lap, and began to lightly stroke her hair. Jubilee found this odd, but only because if the girl was who she suspected, not only was Claudette handling this rather well, but she seemed far too detached about it. She decided to test her theory on Doug and Piotr.

"So this is their mother, right?" Jubilee asked.

Doug and Piotr traded knowing looks. "It's complicated," Doug said slowly.

"What do you mean? It's a yes or no question!"

Doug smiled at her. "We're X-Men, Jubilee. There are rarely ever any answers so simple as that."

"Come on. You're messing with me, right? It's really her, isn't it?"

"You might as well stop asking. I can tell by your tone that you're not totally convinced, either. And you're right to have doubts. Clearly, Claudette isn't reacting the way you'd expect her to, and it has little to do with her autism this time. This family buried its mother a long time ago, in every sense of the phrase. The girl in front of us may be a lot of things, but the one thing she definitely is not is their mother. But at the same time, to say there was no connection between them would be false. I have no doubt that the late Mrs. St. Croix once looked a great deal like this girl."

Jubilee frowned. "Hey, wait. So then why did you call this girl... um, Penny, I guess... Ms. St. Croix?"

Doug nodded. "In reference to her being of their blood, I felt it was only proper. And I would prefer not to label her as anything else until she actually tells us what she prefers to be called. She's had enough choices taken away from her."

"Oh. I guess that means I can't call her Penny anymore. That's going to take some getting used to."

"No," the girl on the floor whispered hoarsely, reaching out to Jubilee with a trembling hand. "Please, don't stop calling me that."

Jubilee knelt down and hesitantly took her hand. "You're really okay with it?"

The girl smiled and nodded. "It reminds me... that not all of my life has been filled with horror, frustration, and pain. And I would rather be Penny than... nothing at all."

"Wait," Jubilee said slowly. "You... don't have another name?"

"No," Penny admitted. "I never had a name to begin with. And before I could choose one for myself, the choice was taken out of my hands, as so many others were." She hesitated. "I would rather only tell my story once, and I want Nicole and Monet to hear it. They deserve that much."

"I'm sure Nicole and Illyana will be back shortly," Doug said.

Penny glanced at him and slowly stood up. "You'll have to forgive me... Doug, wasn't it? I have spent virtually all of my life waiting, to be free of the painful prison that was my own body. I don't intend to wait any longer." She walked over to the locked door, studied it for a moment, and then knocked it down with a single, super-powered punch. Satisfied, Penny turned and extended her hand to Claudette.

Claudette glanced at the others, then took Penny's hand and followed her out of the room.

"We're going to get in so much trouble for this," Jubilee moaned. "But I know if we just stay here, they'll blame the two of us with superhuman strength, anyway."

"She has a point," Doug sighed, already jotting down a quick note of apology to Dani and Cyclops.

"She usually does," Piotr agreed. "We'd better get going."

**End of Chapter 5.**

* * *

**Continued in Chapter 6: Darkchylde Rising**

Illyana reveals her plans for Emplate, Limbo, and the team. Penny reveals a mother's final, secret shame, and makes a very unwelcome request of her family.

* * *

**Endnotes:**

To be clear, as far as I know, the only thing cemented about the late Mrs. St. Croix is that she was the first victim of Marius, which was directly responsible for her death. Everything else I have to claim artistic license with. Still, considering each St. Croix child has a variety of mutant powers, I tend to think that both parents were mutants, though the father seems pretty non-mutant so far.

The X-Men have grown a lot over the years. I bet some of us remember when there were only the Blue and Gold teams. Now there's all these squads. Too many for me to keep up with, and not all of them seem to matter much. The important thing being that most squads have a name that is somehow related to the squad leader. In this case, Illyana has not discussed a squad name ahead of time, so she needs something rather obvious that Cyclops will immediately associate with her and Piotr. So the Rasputin squad is born... but only while on official X-Men business. Which won't be often, since they have their own interests to pursue.

I don't know about the sacrificing virgins stuff, that was mostly for laughs. I do know that Illyana has left arguably evil humans (one of which was responsible for Doug's death, in fact) in Limbo, likely to be torn apart by demons or worse.

If you're confused about who Penny is still, don't worry, that's done on purpose. Though if you really paid attention, you can probably guess already. Maybe. I actually invite you to. But not to worry. All will be revealed next chapter.


	6. Darkchylde Rising

**Monsters Like Us**

**An X-Men Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

**Chapter 6: Darkchylde Rising**

* * *

The moment Emplate's tank landed in the red dirt, the demons converged on it. This did not alarm him, and he calmly watched them disable the tank's various security features. Occasionally, a demon would burst into flames, or be electrocuted, and in one particularly nasty case, start to melt for no apparent reason, but each time, another demon would quickly replace it and continue the work.

They had the tank open in just under three minutes. Emplate quickly climbed out, and noticed two things at once. First, all of the demons had vanished, and second, the portal that had dropped him there was still open, surrounded by a ring of floating, black symbols. He assumed the symbols composed a spell that somehow disabled the rest of Utopia's security precautions, although he was very curious as to where Illyana Rasputin had come by such knowledge. It was among the list of things he intended to question her about, not that he expected any honest answers. Fortunately, he already knew plenty about her. The aspect of his mutant power that allowed him to see a fellow mutant's aura also gave him a certain amount of insight into their powers, and in many cases, even their surface thoughts. Not surprisingly, his power been able to discern next to nothing about Illyana simply by his looking at her, but that in itself was telling. He attributed this blind spot to already impressive mental defenses, and likely no small amount of magical protection. Little of that would make a difference once he managed to sample her mutant marrow, however: aside from providing him with much needed nourishment, it would give him a far more detailed look into the mystery that was Illyana.

In fact, the only reason he did not attack Illyana immediately when she appeared from a nearby portal was the way in which she did so. Instead of opening the portal herself, a small, green demon crawled out of a mound of dirt and opened a portal itself, allowing Illyana entry into the dimension. Having just seen that Illyana was capable of opening portals with her sword, it was not really a surprise to Emplate that she could share her mutant power with other beings, but the confirmation was still a cause for concern. It drastically increased the difficulty in disabling her long enough to feed properly. Even the spell he'd used to create Penance would likely prove ineffective, if not because of Illyana's own magical prowess, then certainly because of this new ability. There was no telling how many other demons might have a portion of her power, and if even one of them was missed, she could escape at any time. Still, this all lead back to the original issue: the only way to know for sure was to feed on her, if only for an instant.

The moment the portals snapped shut, Illyana turned to give him a thoughtful stare. "It would appear that my calculations were correct, considering that you are largely unharmed."

Though he was not harmed at all, Emplate did not think it wise to say so. Instead, he asked her something that had been bothering him. "Were you serious?"

"About?" she asked, obviously intending to make him work for the answers.

He repeated the word she'd used earlier, which sounded like "flusjet" to most, but meant "sanctuary" among those in the know, which included the two of them.

"I was," Illyana replied. "I was willing to offer you sanctuary in Limbo, in exchange for the spell to restore Penance. You did not deliver it willingly, but the fact remains that I needed you to free her, so I am still willing to provide you what I originally offered."

"So our business is at an end," Emplate said, watching her carefully.

"Yes. So long as you dwell in Limbo, you have nothing to fear from the majority of its occupants. Anyone in Limbo that does seek to harm you will have to answer to me. Should you choose to leave Limbo, of course, you would also be leaving the extent of my protection. I believe that covers all the terms of our agreement."

"Then I suppose I am in your debt, dear lady. Allow me to offer you a gift."

Illyana shook her head. "I do not consider becoming one of your vampiric slaves a gift, and even if I did, I would refuse it."

"Then enjoy the honor of becoming my newest source of mutant marrow!" Emplate shouted, thrusting his hand out and shooting a blue-black beam of magic at her.

"You never learn," she sighed, just before she was engulfed in a massive explosion, flooding the area with dark smoke.

Emplate rushed forward into the smoke at once, extending his hand so he could grab her, but instead a hand grabbed his wrist. The smoke vanished abruptly, leaving Emplate staring at Illyana, now clad in silver, glowing armor.

"It's obvious that you don't quite understand where you are," Illyana murmured. "I am the sole ruler of Limbo. If I want, I can absorb all of the magic in that dimension and channel it elsewhere on a whim. You are so far beyond a threat to me. Aside from that, I can alter the fabric of the dimension at will. There are few beings that could harm me under such circumstances, and you, as a mere dimension-hopper, are not one of them."

"You talk so much like Monet used to," Emplate noted. "That is, before I educated her as to which of us was superior to the other. She was no match for me, in terms of magic. But this only means that you are a bigger prize to be won. So if you were hoping to dissuade me, you failed."

"Then perhaps a change of tactics is in order." Illyana released him and stepped back, dismissing her armor with a gesture. "You will recall that my offer of sanctuary only applied so long as as you remained in Limbo."

"Your point being?"

She smiled. "I do not ever recall saying that I had transported you to Limbo, Emplate. As such, you are on your own here." Illyana raised her head. "Great Cyttorak, with this living sacrifice, I believe the terms of our arrangement have been met."

"Indeed they have, mortal," said a rumbling voice that seemed to shake the entire dimension. "From this day forward, the dimension of Limbo shall be recognized as a protectorate of Cyttorak."

Emplate looked up in horror to see a giant, lizard-faced humanoid leaning over them and peering at him with great interest.

"Unfortunately, Emplate, there are no mutants here that I'm aware of," Illyana explained. "So you won't be able to feed. But I've been assured that the atmosphere can be adjusted to ensure you stay reasonably healthy and firmly within the Crimson Cosmos. Even if you should happen to die, you will be instantly revived. I'm sure that will come in handy. And don't worry. I doubt anyone is foolish enough to come to Cyttorak's domain and harm someone under his care. Though that's likely because being in his care would be considered the greater source of torment."

Before Emplate could protest, an invisible force seized his arms and began to pull.

"Don't struggle, mortal," the voice commanded. "I want to see how far you can stretch before you break."

Illyana's portal had already snapped shut behind her before she could hear the first of Emplate's screams.

* * *

"You put Nicole in a cell?!" Piotr shouted, having to be held back by Jubilee, Doug, and to a far greater extent, Magneto's magnetic grip. Penny was merely watching with Claudette, since she felt the same as Piotr, and for the moment neither St. Croix saw a reason to hinder his efforts.

At the other end of the corridor leading into the X-Brig, Cyclops nodded. "As I said, we had no choice. Illyana teleported Emplate out and then vanished herself. All we know for sure is that she at least went to Limbo, but that's true of all of her portals, if only momentarily, so it doesn't give us any leads. Need I remind you that we warned all of you several times that there would be consequences for deviating from the approved list of actions? Illyana knew that. As your team leader, it was up to her to make sure you all understood that. If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at her."

"But Nicole didn't do anything wrong!" Piotr roared.

"That's true enough, but she was the only member of the team present at the time, so we couldn't take that chance."

"Can you at least put Claudette and I in the same cell?" Penny asked. "We are family, and you know very well that Nicole could find a way to escape if she really wanted to."

"Please, Cyke?" Jubilee added, for all the good it would do.

"I'm willing to watch them," Magneto offered.

Cyclops glared at him. "Because that worked out so well the last time."

"You asked me, of all people, to harm children that were once my responsibility. You should have known better. This is different: I'll only be keeping them in the cell. That much I can do without harming them."

"Fine," Cyclops agreed. "Danger, open the cell."

There was a flash in Danger's eyes as she gazed at each of them, obviously scanning for something. She lingered for several seconds on Penny, but eventually turned away and opened the cell.

Nicole was seated on the floor, her knees drawn up to her body as she stared at the wall. She looked up as the door opened, but made no move to rise. "They're putting you guys in, too?" she asked. "I was getting bored."

Claudette immediately walked into the cell, sat down beside Nicole, and leaned against her shoulder. Nicole smiled at her, but the smile was replaced with a look of shock as Penny stepped in. "You're not Monet," Nicole whispered, and then her eyes widened. "Mother? Is it really you?"

Penny sighed deeply and shook her head as she knelt down in front of the twins. "No, Nicole. I'm so sorry. I wish I was or could have been your mother, but it's much too late for that. I promise I'll tell you everything once Monet is here with us. For now, it's enough that we're together."

"Coming from someone who hasn't been able to really touch another person in years, I doubt that." Nicole shared a silent look with Claudette, and then both pulled Penny into their midst, barely giving her time to get comfortable before they wrapped their arms around her. Penny briefly looked confused, even afraid, but eventually and hesitantly returned the embrace.

"Aw, you guys!" Jubilee moaned, running in and attaching herself to Penny's back.

Piotr was next, giving Cyclops one last dark look before entering the cell and enfolding everyone into his large arms.

Cyclops turned to Doug, who was still outside the cell. "It's your call, Doug. Emma attached you to this team with my blessing, so I can't really hold you responsible for anything they've done so far. From what I've seen, you've definitely done your job. If you want to walk away, you can."

"If Illyana was here, I might consider it," Doug admitted. "But maybe she's been away from us for so long that she's forgotten. New Mutants don't leave their friends behind, even if they are on another team. And I 'm not done. You tasked my team with taking care of unfinished business, and you know something? Nicole, Claudette, and Penny have been unfinished business for far too long. I'm not leaving until they ask me to. So if it's all the same to you, I'm staying where I'm needed most."

Doug had barely stepped inside the cell when a portal suddenly appeared between he and the group. Illyana walked out, glanced around, and sighed. "Can I at least have somewhat fashionable restraints this time?" she asked.

* * *

After a long and very unproductive debriefing (in which Cyclops learned next to nothing, and Illyana was sure he suffered that ulcer she and Jubilee had been hoping for), Illyana was returned to her team's cell.

"Good news, everyone," she announced. "They're only going to keep us in here overnight, in hopes that the lesson will stick. It won't, but it would be bad form not to humor them that long, considering."

This was met with several flat looks.

"You lied to us," Nicole said.

Illyana nodded. "I'm sure I told you that I do that sometimes."

"But we're your team! Your family! You said!"

"I did," Illyana agreed, "and I meant it. The family comes first."

"Then what was that before with Emplate?!"

Illyana blinked. "I thought it was obvious. He wasn't part of _my_ family. In fact, he was a very real and recurring threat to my family. I do not tolerate such things."

"So you just... killed him, then?" Nicole asked.

"No. I removed the spell as I said I would, and then I left him. I did not harm him in any way, but I think it will be a very long time before he decides to hurt anyone. In any case, he is no longer a threat. I trust this is acceptable to everyone?"

Nicole glared at her. "You could have asked us."

"True," Illyana agreed with a nod. "But I would not be much of a leader if you could not trust me to make the hard decisions, Nicole. Would you have ever been able to do what I did?"

"No," Nicole admitted. "But I don't have a Soulsword."

"And if you did? Would you have done it?"

"...probably not."

"You may thank me properly later, then."

Nicole scowled. "Peter, how can you stand her?"

Piotr chuckled. "I'm surprised you even have to ask, Nicole. She is my sister."

"So we're done being mad at her now?" Jubilee asked. "It was getting a little old."

Nicole grumbled a bit, but everyone could see the fight had gone out of her, for the moment.

Illyana sat down beside her brother, and immediately received a tentative telepathic poke from Penny, who was playing with Claudette's hair and doing her best to seem entirely focused on it. Curious, Illyana lowered her mental shields the slightest bit. What followed was a near overwhelming flood of gratitude from Penny: for freeing her, and for removing Emplate. Illyana sensed this was not something that Penny was comfortable sharing with the others (especially Nicole), but it was still nice to get some recognition.

"I feel the need to apologize, for not being here earlier to meet you, Penny," Illyana said aloud.

"It's okay," Penny replied quickly. "I understand."

"Still, you joined us as Penance. I think we all agree that wasn't really you. So I'd like to invite you to join us again. As the true you."

"Thank you, but I can't. Penance joined because she needed your help. While I'm very grateful to you all, what I need is to explain things... to my sisters. They're the only ones I feel comfortable making any sort of commitment to right now."

"That's disappointing, but understandable," Illyana sighed. "But I hope you'll reconsider later on."

"Maybe," Penny murmured, avoiding her eyes.

Illyana frowned, but left it alone. She didn't want to believe it, but she recognized the look in Penny's eyes just then. From the way Doug was frowning at her, so had he. It was a look of total defeat, of a person who had given everything they had and was now empty inside. In Illyana's experience, people like that didn't last too long, no matter what was done to help them. Much as she hated to admit it, it looked as if Emplate had been right: the only thing Illyana had done for Penny was move her from one hell to another. Worse, she had given the twins hope in the process, and it was likely to soon be cruelly snatched away.

At once, there was prickly sensation behind Illyana's eyes, one she had not felt in some time: the start of tears. Before they could form, a large arm curled around her, and she suddenly found herself pulled gently into her brother's lap. "Peter?" she asked in genuine surprise.

"I have you, Snowflake," he said simply, and then fell silent.

She had no idea how he'd known, and really, it didn't matter at all. Illyana closed her eyes and leaned back, resting her head against his massive chest. That close to him, his scent engulfed her, reminding her instantly of the home and family she'd lost, but also of the love and care she'd been raised with and still recieved from him. The tears came back, hard and fast, and Illyana turned her head and buried her face in his chest to hide them.

Jubilee, who was sitting closest to them, hurried over to hug Illyana, and Doug did the same.

The twins did not join in, and Illyana knew it was because Penny was holding them back, fully aware that she was at least partially the cause of Illyana's tears, and not wanting to cause any more.

* * *

Nicole was used to Monet hovering over her. It was often annoying, rarely endearing, and generally lead to them fighting, but they were both used to that. So used to it, in fact, that when Nicole opened her eyes the next morning, only to find herself staring into the sleeping face of her older sister, for a moment she actually mistook Penny for Monet. It was an understandable mistake: Penny had Monet's face, as it had been several years ago. She even acted a little like Monet, though thankfully not yet to the degree where she was anywhere near as annoying. But realization came quickly to Nicole, not because she suddenly remembered the events of the past day, but because she was sensing Monet's unmistakable presence behind her. And sure enough, when Nicole turned around, Monet was standing there outside of the cell, staring at her. Just as bad (at least for Piotr and Jubilee, anyway), Kitty Pryde was with her, and neither one looked happy. Kitty had a sort of strangled look on her face, and Monet was, of course, staring at Penny.

Nicole cleared her throat, instantly regaining Monet's attention. "Hi, Monet. You're here to kill us, right? You said if you ever had to come and get us out of jail, you'd kill us. I distinctly remember that."

Monet blinked slowly and actually smiled. "Hello, Nicole. You're right, I did say that. But I was given the time of your scheduled release upon arrival, so technically I didn't have to do anything. I'm willing to let this incident slide, just this once, but only this once."

"Really?" Nicole asked in surprise. "Cool. I think I'm going to like this new, relaxed Monet. Her I don't mind telling people I'm related to." She noticed that Monet's gaze had drifted back to Penny. "Guess what? We fixed Penance."

"I can... see that. I was told that, anyway."

"She's nice. Not in a mom way, but not really in a sister way, though that's how she thinks of us. Mostly I think she's scared. Of being normal, I guess."

Monet smirked, possibly at the idea of living among a family of mutants as normal. "That's to be expected. She hasn't been herself in a very long time."

Nicole bit her lip. "I should tell you, in case they didn't. Illyana took Marius away and I'm not sure what she did with him. She won't say, but she swears he's still alive and that he won't hurt anyone."

Monet closed her eyes briefly, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. "That may be for the best, Nicole. Even if I don't like to admit it. Marius wasn't sick. He wasn't going to get better or change. He wasn't going to be... Marius ever again. It took Illyana, a person I have no reason to trust, to free Penance. I think it happened that way for a reason. I think we need to accept that. And I'll be here for you, if you can't. I promise."

"Thanks." Nicole glanced back at Penny, then lowered her voice. "There's something else I just found out. Claudette knew about Penny. Knew who she really was, I mean. She's known ever since the last time she and I combined with Marius. She didn't even tell me, Monet."

"And of course she wouldn't tell me. I didn't handle it well the last time I came face to face with myself."

"That was different. We did that to protect Father. This time Claudette was protecting us, even if it meant distancing herself from us. Doesn't that upset you?"

Monet shook her head. "Nicole, I realized a long time ago that I may never hear Claudette say that she loves me. I'm willing to accept any way she chooses to show me, even if it hurts."

"But she's been pushing you away this whole time, just to keep you from finding out!"

"Then so long as she stops, now that we know, there's no problem. I think Claudette is entitled to some trust."

"That's not the issue!" Nicole snapped. "She's been hurting all this time and we didn't know, but only because she wouldn't let us. She promised me that she'd never do that. Claudette lied to me, Monet. She's never done that before."

"Nicole, what's really bothering you?" Monet asked. "That Claudette lied to protect us, or that she can lie at all?"

"Neither. It's that I thought we'd made so much progress. I thought Claudette and I were closer than ever. But this makes me doubt everything. I hate that feeling."

"Then you have to tell her that. Just because you have a bond, don't assume she can read your mind every minute or know exactly how you feel. Because from where I'm standing, you and Claudette _are_ closer than ever. I'm the one she pushed away, but you're the one she kept communicating with. She was willing to sacrifice her bond with me, but not with you. That means something, Nicole, and I hope you realize that before you accidentally push her away. This family can't afford to lose anyone else. We just can't. Talk to her, please."

Nicole slowly approached Claudette, who was asleep beside Penny, and gently shook her.

Claudette sat up at once, looking first at Nicole, and then at Penny, before she noticed Monet and waved to her. She stopped when she spotted Nicole's troubled expression and hesitantly touched her arm.

"We need to talk, Claudette," Nicole said firmly, holding out her hands.

Claudette placed her hands in Nicole's, and the twins leaned forward until their foreheads touched, their eyes drifting shut at the same time.

* * *

With the armor of Penance removed, Penny found she was much more sensitive to the world around her. Most importantly, the low-level telepathic bonds she'd held with each St. Croix sister were slightly stronger now. She had sensed Monet's presence even before Nicole had, but had pretended to still be asleep solely out of fear. Part of her did not feel ready to face Monet and her questions, while another part wanted nothing more than to be near her.

Monet, however, was both very intelligent and blessed with the gift of insight on sight. She was bound to figure out very quickly that Penny was faking, and soon called her on it after the twins begin their telepathic conference. "Penny, I know you can hear me. I'd like very much to talk to you."

"Maybe," Penny murmured, "but I doubt you want to hear what I have to say."

"You're part of our family. That much is clear. And I highly doubt you had any choice in your appearance, so I don't blame you for that. But there are... certain aspects of your restoration that need to be addressed."

"They will be," Penny agreed, moving closer to the front of the cell. "But not here. I don't like it here. You shouldn't, either. They put Nicole in this cell, alone, and she did nothing wrong."

"One of the hazards of being friends with Illyana," Monet said at once. "Which, I remind you, Nicole chose herself."

Penny frowned at her. "Illyana saved me. I don't care if she had to break some rules to do it. I would have done the same for you or the twins."

"If you want to do something for me, tell me who you were before you became Penance."

Penny shook her head. "Not here."

"Then we'll go home and-"

"Not there," Penny insisted, narrowing her eyes. "Never again."

Monet frowned, sensing this had nothing to do with Nicole's refusal to come home. "Why not?"

"Because that's where I became Penance... and where you lost your mother. I'm amazed any of you can stand to live there."

"There are still happy memories there for us, Penny."

"But not for me. I won't go back, and you won't try to force me. Not if you want the truth, and not if you care about me at all."

Monet sighed. "Fine. Then where?"

"The school," Jubilee said, stifling a yawn as she shuffled over to Penny's side and rubbed her back. "Penny's always liked it there."

Monet was about to scold her for interrupting when she realized that Jubilee was right: Penny offered no protest to the idea, and seemed calmer with Jubilee nearby. "If that's where you're comfortable, Penny, that's where we'll go."

Penny nodded. "Thanks," she said awkwardly, then moved away to sit near the twins.

Jubilee yawned again, scratching her shoulder absently. "So, Monet, any ideas why Penny looks like you?"

Monet nodded. "Many, Jubilee, but the theories will have to wait. I intend to get the truth just as soon as you're all released."

* * *

Piotr opened his eyes slowly, feeling stiff but refreshed. He had not dreamed, but since this also meant he had not been plagued by the usual nightmares, it was a welcome change. His first thought was to attribute this to the comforting weight of Illyana as she continued to sleep peacefully in his arms, though he could not help wondering if her magic was somehow responsible for it. Deciding to ask her later, Piotr gradually became aware of the changes in the cell. They had all more or less fallen asleep in one big pile, but now they were scattered about the cell in small groups. Penny was crouching beside the twins, who appeared to be having a prolonged telepathic conversation. Doug and Jubilee stood near the front of the cell, talking with Monet.

Penny noticed him moving and offered a hesitant smile. "They'll let us out in another hour or so."

Piotr nodded. "How are you adjusting?"

She shrugged. "It's a little weird, being able to touch people without hurting them. And I'm not really sure, but I think whatever spell I was under converted waste products into energy, because I don't remember sweating, but suddenly I've been doing it a lot, according to Jubilee."

Piotr was not sure how to respond to that, and fortunately, he didn't have to. Penny kept talking as if she hadn't expected a response.

"Also, that girl over there kept asking me to tell you that she wanted to talk to you, when you woke up. I guess it's pretty important."

Piotr looked again, now noticing that Kitty was standing beside Monet with a guarded expression. "Penny, could you keep an eye on my sister? I expect she'll be fine, but if you notice anything odd, please wake her up at once."

"Okay," Penny replied, clearly confused about what she was meant to watch for, but still grateful enough to the Russian siblings where she wasn't about to refuse a request from either one. "Does she sleepwalk or something?"

Piotr did not want to say that he feared Illyana might transform into her demonic state, and so simply said, "Less sleepwalking, and more or something. You'll definitely know if you see it." After carefully shifting Illyana into Penny's arms, Piotr stood up and walked to the front of the cell.

Kitty managed a small, tense smile. "Hi, Peter."

"Hello, Kitty," he replied. "It's good to see you again."

"You're just saying that."

He frowned slightly. "I would never. You will always be an important person in my life, and I have never made a secret of that. How could you question that, even for an instant?"

She looked away to avoid his wounded gaze. "I broke up with you. It'd be okay if you hated me."

"I understand why you did it, Kitty. I'm not happy about it, but I don't think I could ever hate you. There is just this distance between us now."

"I know. I've been trying to get you to see that distance, but you couldn't before. Illyana only added to it, and you couldn't see that, either. I knew eventually you'd choose between us, even if I didn't force you to, and I knew I'd lose. I was just hoping it wouldn't be this soon."

Piotr sighed. "I fear I must add to the distance again, Kitty. You won't like what I have to tell you."

Kitty nodded. "That's the impression that Jubilee gave me, but she wouldn't tell me what it was. She said you wanted to be the one to tell me, whatever it is."

"Yes." He took a deep breath. "Jubilee and I are dating now."

She stared at him for several seconds, and Piotr was a little shocked that she still seemed to be bracing herself for the bad news. Finally, Kitty shook her head. "That's it? You're not sleeping together, or married? She's not pregnant? You're just dating? I have to say I expected worse."

"Because your opinion of me has lowered so much?"

"No! Because you made it sound like somebody died! Geez, Pete!"

Piotr felt sure this wasn't a good time to add that several people had died, just not anyone she had known or cared about.

"Okay, so you're dating again. I'm not crazy about the idea, but I'm not furious, either. And you could do a whole lot worse than Jubilee. At least I know she'll be good to you, and I assume Illyana approves of her."

"I thought you'd be angry," Piotr admitted. "Or upset."

"I am upset," Kitty admitted. "But I'm not going to start throwing things at you, if that's what you were thinking. I'm not a kid anymore. Now that I think about it, I'm not really surprised, either. I guess she's in a better place to accept the way you've changed."

"You mean because she's a vampire."

Kitty shrugged. "I suspect that's a big part of it, but hopefully not all of it. I want to believe she's just a bigger person than me, and that she'd accept you even if she weren't a vampire. Because if she ever manages to get cured, it might become an issue. I just want you to be ready for that. Because I do still care about you, Peter. Eventually I'll get around to liking you again."

"I thought you weren't angry."

"I'm not angry that you're dating Jubilee. I am still angry that you became the Juggernaut and put me in a position where I either had to accept that or leave you. That, I'm going to be angry about for a while."

Piotr shook his head, clearly confused. "Then why did you come here?"

"Because I wanted to see you, Peter. I heard you were locked up, and I was worried. I thought maybe you'd changed for the worst and that the power had consumed the man I used to love. But I'm glad to see I was wrong. Unfortunately, that does still mean that you're the man who broke my heart. But I'd take him over a mindless monster any day. So I'm glad you're okay. A little concerned about why you're in here, but glad."

"That... was a misunderstanding."

Kitty frowned at him. "I think you mean that Illyana broke yet another rule, and once again, you're trying to cover for her. Which doesn't surprise me, though I'm offended you couldn't simply tell me the truth, or at least expect me to guess it quickly. I'm not stupid, and I know you two."

"So you're on Scott's side in this?" Piotr asked.

"Depends. Scott's side says that he warned you, repeatedly, that there would be consequences, and Illyana ignored him. How did you expect him to respond? Illyana wasn't here to punish, so he punished her team instead. I would have done the same in his place."

"Even if I was the one who broke the rule?"

"Especially then, because I'd have to believe that you either had no respect for my authority, or just wanted to piss me off on a personal level. I'd like to think neither case would ever apply. You've always been a good man, Peter. It's just that you've always sheltered Illyana, and she's come to depend on that, and even use it. She knows you'll always be in her corner, and that she can count on you to defend her bad behavior, no matter what. I warned you about that, and either you haven't listened, or you've just accepted it as fact. I'm not sure which is worse, honestly."

"Then you haven't listened to me, either, Kitty. I will always be at my sister's side. I will always protect her, especially if she is wrong. If she needs to be corrected, I will be the one to address it. It's best this way. It's one thing if she can dwell in darkness alone. It's quite another if she can continually look me in the eyes and still make bad choices. I don't think she's fallen that far, and I don't think she ever will. But the only way to ensure that is for me to stay with her, and I would do that even if she didn't need me to."

Kitty shook her head sadly. "She's dragging you down, Peter."

"No, Kitty," Piotr disagreed. "We are walking there hand in hand. And I could not be happier about it."

* * *

Illyana woke up to find her team repeatedly poking her. "Stop that," she snapped, glaring as Piotr helped her up.

"We tried shaking you," Jubilee pointed out. "And Nicole wanted to dump a bucket of cold water on you. So just be glad that poking was the next most popular choice."

"They're ready to release us, Snowflake," Piotr explained. "But Cyclops wants to talk to you first."

"Very well." Illyana paused when she noticed Doug was present. "Why are you still here?"

Doug grinned. "Well, it's been so long since you've gotten me imprisoned. I guess I just missed it."

"I see. Then make sure you tell Dani that when she asks." Illyana walked to the front of the cell, where Cyclops, Magneto, Danger, Monet, and Kitty were waiting for her. "I feel so important to be in such illustrious company. What could I have done to deserve all this attention?"

"The usual, Illyana," Cyclops replied. "You were bad."

"Just a little," she admitted with a smile. "But surely that isn't enough to erase the supposed trust that my brother and I earned, Scott? I never thought you were that fragile."

"Lucky for you, I'm not. What I am is cautious. So I'm not letting you out until you describe, in great detail, the spells you used to render all of Danger's security protocols useless."

"I do apologize for that, Danger," Illyana added. "It was nothing personal. I simply thought you could use the extra space for another prisoner. You remain, in my eyes, a most capable warden. After all, I certainly never escaped while I was a prisoner here."

"True," Danger admitted, "though I see now that was largely because you weren't actually trying."

"Just give us the spells, Illyana," Cyclops ordered. "As a show of good faith, if nothing else."

"I'd like to counter that offer with a different show of good faith, one that is far more impressive," Illyana replied.

"Why don't I like that choice of words?"

Illyana smiled. "Please relax. If I wanted to hurt you, you would be hurt already. Now, you'll remember that you initially tasked me with convincing Cyttorak to strip Cain Marko of the Juggernaut power, so that it could be kept in responsible hands from then on."

Cyclops glared at her. "What I remember most about that is that you were supposed to hold the power, and Peter took it instead."

"If you're actually going hold a grudge against Peter for being protective of me, Scott, then we might as well end our association here and now."

"I'm sorry," he said stiffly. "Please continue."

"Thank you. As I was saying, you wanted the power in responsible hands. Since the plan was that I hold the power, I took that to mean that you trusted me to be responsible in handling it."

"But that doesn't matter. You aren't the one holding the power. That was the problem."

She nodded. "Yes, that was the problem, wasn't it? Past tense. But what if I told you that I had been in talks with Cyttorak since then, and that we had come to an understanding? What if I told you that we no longer had to consider Cyttorak, or his power, a threat to the X-Men?"

"Part of me would call that extremely impressive, but the rest would definitely want to know how you managed it. In even greater detail than the spells you're supposed to give me, in fact."

"I managed it the exact same way I managed the spells, and indeed, every impressive thing that I do, Scott," Illyana replied, raising her right hand and, with a flourish, producing a large, blood red ruby out of thin air. "With impeccable flair and unmatched intelligence."

"That had better not be what I think it is," Cyclops snapped, instantly on edge.

"It is not," Illyana confirmed. "You're thinking this is the gem of Cyttorak that transforms the holder into the Juggernaut. Rest assured that power remains with my brother."

"Then why is this one supposed to be so impressive?"

"Because of what this gem represents: it is proof that Limbo, and its ruler, are now under Cyttorak's protection. I have certain responsibilities to him, and in exchange, he grants me a small portion of his magical power. I could hardly represent him well if I could be easily defeated or detained. So understand me very well when I say this. You can either release us now, or we can simply walk out. But understand that if we walk out, and are delayed in any way, you risk sparking a magical war with Cyttorak himself."

"You would never do that," Cyclops said softly.

"No, I would not," Illyana agreed. "But at the same time, I'm sure you understand that Cyttorak is a being of immense power, and as such is not really one to exercise patience very often. If I am prevented from serving him, he will want to know why, and he will not have mercy on those in the way. So for the good of all of Utopia, release us at once."

"Just answer me one question, Illyana: did you break the security protocols before or after you joined forces with Cyttorak?"

Illyana opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly her eyes took on a brief but extremely noticeable red glow. "I'm sorry, Scott, but Cyttorak will not permit me to answer that. I should tell you that he now has considerable say, not only in how Limbo is run, but how frequently and in what ways I may interact with the X-Men. Currently, he has no tasks for me, but he expects that when he does, I will no longer be in Utopia's care."

Cyclops shook his head. "You're not in our care. I'm positive you could have taken your team out of here at any time."

"Very true. But I thought you might take our leaving prematurely personally. I figured I had met my rudeness quota for the week."

"I'd rather have my feelings hurt than your boss at my door. You're all free to go. But as impressed as I am, Illyana, we will discuss this at another time."

"I'll make an appointment."

* * *

The moment Illyana returned her team (plus Monet) to the Massachusetts Academy, she excused herself in a hurry, eager to escape all of the questions, and needing some time to collect her thoughts. Not surprisingly, Piotr was the only one that thought to look for her in the basement, where she had curled up on an old couch. Then again, he was the one who had the most to talk to her about, and at the same time, he was the one she wanted to speak to the least.

"You should know that you cannot hide from me, Snowflake," Piotr said as he stood over her.

"Please, brother," Illyana sighed. "I don't want to talk right now."

"Good. You only need to listen." He knelt down and gently brushed her golden hair out of her face. "I only wanted to thank you."

"For?" she asked.

"I would like to think that your bargain with Cyttorak was largely for my benefit. Even if it wasn't, I still want to thank you."

"I haven't done anything worthy of gratitude yet, Peter."

"You restored Penny," he disagreed.

Illyana closed her eyes and shook her head. "You won't think that's so great soon enough."

* * *

Penny had not said a word since they'd left Utopia. In fact, she'd become increasingly withdrawn, and Monet had begun watching her carefully in case she showed signs of wanting to flee. But Penny had not resisted when the twins dragged her up to their room, and had not seemed worried when Monet positioned herself firmly in front of the door. She still said nothing, however, which was becoming quite awkward.

"Maybe she just needs some time?" Nicole suggested hesitantly.

"No," Penny and Monet said at once, glancing at each other curiously.

"No more waiting," Penny murmured. "You need to know what I know. You deserve to know your mother's dying wish."

"But she was your mother, too, wasn't she?" Nicole asked.

Penny closed her eyes. "I suppose, yes. But let me start properly. You know that she and Marius were alone at home, the day his mutant powers manifested. You know that she was his first victim, and that the loss of so much of her marrow was what eventually killed her. But it wasn't as simple as that. Your mother knew for years that she was different, and she hid this out of fear. The only times she used her mutant power was when it would mean the difference between life and death. But this wasn't just a conscious choice. She never realized that her power was at its strongest while she was in mortal peril. That day, lying so close to death, the peak of her mutant power was triggered, brought on by her desperate need to survive. In the past, she had been able to heal herself, even from serious wounds. But her body was too badly damaged, and there was no hope of saving it. So your mother did the only thing she could: she grew a new body. Imperfect and improperly aged, but still viable. There was just one major problem. In her weakened state, she could only pass on a small collection of memories. She chose to give me her attachment to her children, and the knowledge of what Marius had done to her. I want to believe that she wanted me to warn you at the least, and protect you at the most. But because of what happened next, I will never be sure."

"Marius came back," Monet whispered.

Penny turned to her with wide eyes. "How did you know?"

"He always comes back at the worst possible time. Go on."

"I truly think that his power drove him mad with hunger, and he was unable to stop himself that first time. He eventually felt guilty about what he'd done, and came back, possibly to try and save her. But when he saw the two of us there, he was again overcome with hunger. There was nothing left to take from her, but he could not ignore a fresh meal. Your mother knew what he would do, even before he did. She spent her last moments begging him to spare her children, knowing Marius would ignore her wishes, if not out of hunger than surely out of spite. But the worst of it was that she could have stopped him there. At least, I could have. I was incomplete, and unaware of my own strength. But if she had told me to, or just asked me to, I would have killed him. Even if she hadn't, I would have done it solely to protect the interests of the person who gave me life. But she was a mother to the very end. She could not bear the thought of killing even one of her children to spare the others, even though he had sentenced her to death. She wouldn't allow me to touch him, and she died with his horrible laughter in her ears. I was... happy that she died then. Because it meant that she never saw me transformed into Penance. Or used as a prison to take away your freedom."

"Penny, you can't think that was your fault," Nicole said gently. "You had no choice."

"You don't understand. My life has been nothing but a series of failures and punishments. I allowed Emplate's evil to go unchecked, and was turned into his slave. I wasn't able to protect my precious sisters, and became their prison. At least as Penance, I couldn't remember any of this. But now that I'm free of that body, all of the guilt and shame has come back to me. And I'm not strong enough to bear it. I never was."

"Whatever you need to get past this, we'll get it for you," Nicole insisted.

Penny shook her head. "I'm not going to get past failing to protect my family, Nicole. I'm not going to get past being Emplate's slave. I'm not going to get past imprisoning all of you. And I shouldn't. I don't deserve to. My whole life has been pain, constant and never-ending. I know now that I was paying for my mistakes. I'm sure that's how I got my name. But I've survived long enough to share the truth with you, and that is my final act of penance. I'm done. There's only one path left to me that can end my suffering for good."

Monet's eyes widened. "No. Don't you dare say-"

"I want to die," Penny whispered. "I need to die. And if you love me, you'll let me go."

* * *

Illyana reacted to Penny's wish (or at least the public announcement of it) the way her position as team leader demanded. Penny was taken to the rec room and placed on around the clock suicide watch, with Piotr and Jubilee taking the first shift. Monet and the twins were obviously too upset to be depended on so soon. Truthfully, Illyana was upset as well. She had hoped that Penny being reunited with her family might change her mind, but it seemed to have only made the desire to die even stronger. Claudette was taking the news the hardest: it was if all Doug's progress with her had been undone, and now even Nicole was having to say things to her three or four times before being heard.

Doug had hesitantly proposed the idea of alerting their comrades, but Illyana had shot the idea down. She wanted to keep the matter strictly in-house, and did not want to involve the X-Men if at all possible. Likewise, while she felt she could trust most of her former New Mutants teammates to keep quiet, it would only take one reporting back to Cyclops for everything to go wrong.

Really, keeping Penny alive wasn't the real issue at the moment. So far, she was still agreeing to eat, and seemed to both understand and agree with Illyana's decision. The problem was that the desire to die was still in Penny's mind and heart, and there was no getting rid of that without altering her personality entirely. Nicole had even suggested the idea of a mindwipe, and as a sign of how bad things were, Monet had not overridden her at once. Illyana had simply pointed out that this would simultaneously seem like yet another punishment, and another choice taken out of Penny's hands, which were why she wanted to die in the first place.

The worst part about it all was that Illyana actually understood Penny's desire to die. Penny was effectively blaming herself for nearly every bad thing that had happened to her family since her birth, and there was no real way to convince her that she was blameless. Illyana actually did consider some of it to be Penny's fault, but she was still practically innocent compared to Emplate, who had orchestrated everything. Plus, Penny would feel responsible even if Illyana chose to reveal that Emplate had been punished. It might have been kinder to simply let Penny die. But Illyana had to consider how the twins would feel. They were her people, and this was likely the one death that they would not recover from.

* * *

Doug and Monet had taken the second watch. Monet said she wanted to try and reason with Penny one more time. Unfortunately, Nicole felt certain that if Penny was anything like herself (or even Monet), that plan was doomed to failure from the start. For all her intelligence, Monet did not reason well. She was always too convinced that she was right, and that the other person was entirely wrong. Even if true, approaching a disagreement that way rarely ever worked. It only ever managed to annoy Nicole, and had always infuriated Marius to no end. This time, it wasn't about right and wrong. Penny was convinced that her wish was both right and necessary. Monet wouldn't get anywhere with her usual tactics.

Nicole had another plan, one that was far simpler. She intended to guilt Penny into living. True, Penny had seemed resistant enough to that already. But Nicole had only had a few minutes to work on her then. She firmly believed that if she had a few hours, Penny would cave. If not out of guilt, then certainly out of love. All Nicole needed was for Illyana to permit her to take the next watch. And she felt sure that Illyana would not refuse her, especially if these were to be Penny's last days.

Illyana didn't disappoint. "I'll allow it," she said as she walked to the rec room with the twins that evening, "but on one condition. I go in with you. Assuming, of course, that Monet's attempt failed."

They had barely opened the door when Monet stomped out, a stormy look on her face as she quickly moved past them.

Nicole gently touched Claudette's cheek. "Go after her, sweet twin. She shouldn't be alone."

Claudette turned and followed Monet at once.

"That's the first thing I haven't had to repeat in hours," Nicole murmured. "It's a good sign."

"Perhaps Claudette is stronger than we know," Illyana suggested as Doug joined them at the door.

"Penny isn't budging," he reported. "She's not trying to escape, either, so that's something. Monet spent most of the last hour shouting at her. Just made me feel bad for Penny, to tell you the truth."

"So you want to let her die, too?" Nicole asked.

"No. But if you're planning to shout at her, too, I wish you wouldn't. It doesn't work, and that's not what she needs right now. She's spent her whole life in armor. Words aren't going to hurt her. What she needs, what she's always needed, is to be touched. If you want her to live simply because you're sisters, show her that you are. She hasn't really experienced that yet, so maybe she doesn't actually realize what she's trying to leave behind. Just... talk to her as if she were Claudette."

Nicole smiled at him. "Have I mentioned that I love your mutant power today?"

"Just it and not me, right?"

She patted his arm. "You're growing on me. Like mold. The good kind."

Doug rolled his eyes. "Oh, great. Good luck in there."

"Thanks." Nicole walked into the rec room and approached Penny, who was sitting on the floor, leaning against the side of the couch. Nicole knelt down beside her, and after a few soft words were exchanged, Nicole crawled into Penny's lap. After a few seconds, Penny wrapped her arms around Nicole, and with no more words between them, the two put their heads together and began to cry.

"Maybe there's still hope," Doug whispered.

"Maybe," Illyana said softly, giving him a faint smile as she walked into the rec room.

* * *

Since Penny's announcement, Claudette had been doing a great deal of thinking. All of her ideas had more or less come down to one conclusion.

She had been hiding the truth about Penny for years. That had been difficult, both because it was painful, and because Claudette had instinctively reinforced her psychic shields so that her sisters wouldn't gleam any of the information. It had required a great deal of her power, more than she was used to devoting to such things. But that was no longer necessary. Which freed up a lot of Claudette's power. Which meant she was suddenly stronger than she'd been in years. It was a nice feeling, like being whole again. And she intended to put all of that power to use. It wouldn't be easy, but she had the element of surprise on her side. No one would ever be expecting her intentions.

Monet was the easiest. She was upset, distracted, and more importantly, she could not have successfully read Claudette's mind even in peak condition. When Monet first detected Claudette's presence in her mind, she did not react, possibly mistaking her for Nicole. Claudette did not give her time to realize the mistake, overriding Monet's troubled thoughts with a powerful suggestion to sleep. In seconds, Monet was asleep in the twins' room, and three minutes later, she was tucked comfortably into Claudette's bed. Claudette was actually troubled by how simple it had been: either Penny's situation had left Monet extremely vulnerable, or she had been slacking off in her mental conditioning. That would need to be looked into, but later.

Nicole would be the real challenge. It had always been difficult to hide things from her, not just because of their psychic rapport, but because Nicole was such a devoted twin. Though Claudette's intentions were honorable, even this much felt like a betrayal to their bond, and it had been tested so recently. Nicole would be angry and hurt, and possibly she would never look at Claudette the same way again. But Claudette had faith that nothing short of death could sever their bond, and if she believed that, then certainly Nicole did, too.

Piotr and Jubilee were already asleep, exhausted physically and emotionally from their time watching Penny. Jubilee had apparently not wanted to sleep alone, because Claudette found her in Piotr's bed, half-hidden under one of his arms. There were tear stains on her pale cheek, and Claudette could not resist kissing her there before overlaying the pair with firmer suggestions of sleep.

"I'm not sure what you're doing," Doug said as he stepped into the room. "But I really think we should talk about it, Claudette."

She was surprised, though not unpleasantly so. Doug was smart, and he paid attention where others did not. Perhaps she had been too obvious in chasing Monet. Perhaps not. But Claudette was prepared for the interruption all the same.

"I found Monet in your room. I know that isn't natural sleep. When there's time, I'll show you the difference. It's very subtle, but it is there, if you know what to look for. And I do, of course." Doug paused and shook his head. "I know this has something to do with Penny. I can respect your feelings, Claudette, but I really think you should talk to Illyana. She will listen, and more importantly, I think you need her to."

Claudette liked Doug. He was kind of cute, in a skinny sort of way. He also reminded her a great deal of a very nice teacher. She didn't feel like she was autistic when he talked to her. She felt... normal. That was nice. This was more important, though, and she didn't have time to explain.

"You're not going to tell me," Doug sighed, instantly reading the shift in her thoughts. "Okay. I know I can't stop you. I trust that you aren't going to hurt anyone, whatever you're doing. Just let me get into bed before you put me to sleep."

As he passed her, Claudette held out a note that she had prepared.

He took it, glanced at it, and smiled. "I'm sorry, too. But I forgive you, and I still like you."

Unlike with the others, along with the suggestion of sleep, Claudette also gave him a dream of an endless field of sunflowers. If he woke up first, and he likely would, it would take some time before he could order his thoughts enough to alert the others.

* * *

"Why do you want to die?"

Penny could not answer, at first. Not because she didn't know the answer, but because she did. She just didn't want to say it, because it would hurt Nicole deeply. But Nicole had asked, and she clearly wanted an honest response.

"I don't know quite how to make you understand why. All I can say is that my every moment, even the happiest ones, are merely drops of joy in a bottomless well of pain and guilt. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," Nicole murmured. "Then you don't love us?"

"Why would you even ask that? Of course I do."

"But not enough to stay with us?"

"It's because I love you that I must die," Penny replied. "But I would still want to die, even if I didn't love you. I don't expect you to understand."

"You're the one that doesn't understand, Penny. We love you and we don't want to lose you."

Penny shook her head. "You don't love me, Nicole. You don't even really know me. You may have loved Penance, but she wasn't truly me. She didn't even know who she was."

"That's even more reason for you to stay with us. Let us get to know you so we can love you. Don't you want that?"

"I've told you what I want. I appreciate the fact that you care for me, but you've only known me for a matter of hours. You can and will bear the loss better than you think. You're strong, stronger than I could ever hope to be. One day soon, you'll see yourself the way I do, and you'll realize why this is so important to me. It's okay if you can't forgive me. I don't expect or want that. I want the family to be whole again. And I never really belonged in the first place."

* * *

The guilt hadn't worked. Illyana hadn't really expected it to. Penny hadn't come to her decision lightly, and she was convinced that it was the best thing, both for her and her family. Nicole had stopped trying to convince her. Instead, they passed the time by talking, perhaps as sisters would. Penny listened intently while Nicole shared memories of their family. Illyana listened as well, wondering what it might be like to have a sister. She had once thought of Kitty that way, but never again.

For no reason, after several hours, Illyana noticed that it was rather quiet outside the rec room. It was likely most of the others had gone to bed, but she would have expected at least one or two to still be moving around restlessly. Curious but not alarmed, she summoned Ferog to her side and sent him to scout the grounds. He returned shortly, confirming that everyone but Claudette was sleeping, and that Claudette was simply sitting a few feet from the door. Though Illyana found that increasingly curious, she did not investigate. So far, Illyana had seen no proof that Claudette was incapable of functioning alone. Certainly Nicole would never have left her if that were the case, and if anything, Claudette had a habit of regularly going off on her own. While that was worrying, Nicole had never even implied that Claudette required constant supervision, only that she preferred they stay together at most times.

It was around two in the morning when Claudette finally walked into the rec room. Predictably, she went straight to Nicole. But instead of sitting, Claudette swept an imaginary hat from her head, bent at the waist, and bowed deeply, extending her hand to her twin.

Nicole stared at her, both amused and confused. "Claudette, you want to dance with me now, of all times? Can't this wait?"

Claudette stared at her expectantly.

"Oh, okay," Nicole sighed, getting to her feet. "I guess it has been a while since the last time." She glanced back at Illyana and frowned. "Don't you dare laugh!"

Illyana blinked innocently. "I would never. I'm actually quite interested in seeing this. Perhaps Penny and I can join you."

Nicole gave her a warning look, but couldn't decide if Illyana was teasing or not. She turned back to Claudette, doing a small curtsy before joining her twin in a slow waltz. Illyana noticed two things she felt certain were oddities at once: both twins had their eyes closed, and Claudette was leading the dance. True, it had been her idea, and she was playing the part of the 'male' dancer, but Illyana still would have expected Nicole to lead any dance they did. Nicole did not seem uncomfortable, surprised, or even reluctant in her role. It looked as if she was now totally unaware of anyone other than Claudette even being in the room. Illyana was so focused on the dance that she didn't realize Penny had moved until the girl was right next to her.

"You're wondering why their eyes are closed," Penny commented.

Illyana shook her head. "Actually, I'm wondering how they do that and manage not to trip over anything, especially each other."

"They're using a psychic projection of the room's layout, and their exact positions in it. They don't need their eyes."

"That sounds excessive."

Penny shrugged. "They've obviously done this before. Have been doing it since they were little, I imagine. It must be second nature to them now, and with something like this, complete trust in each other is simple."

"I don't think complete trust is ever simple," Illyana disagreed. "You'd know that if you'd ever had it."

"Point taken," Penny murmured with a sad smile.

"I wish you'd reconsider, but I know you won't," Illyana added.

"It's enough that you want me to. Thank you, Illyana. Please don't take what's about to happen personally."

Before Illyana could ask, Nicole suddenly went limp in Claudette's arms, clearly out cold. Claudette easily picked up her twin, placing her gently on the couch.

"Don't worry," Penny said, noticing the look on Illyana's face. "Claudette would never hurt Nicole. What you're seeing is the result of a mental maze."

"An illusion that causes the victim to believe their mind is trapped within their own body?"

Penny blinked, a little startled. "Yes, basically. It will fade after a few hours. Which doesn't give me much time to explain."

"I think I can guess most of it," Illyana sighed. "Claudette has agreed to help you die, and she's made it so that I am the only one in a position to stop you. Did I miss anything?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't stop us, actually. I could tell that you knew something like this was coming."

"All I knew was that you weren't recovering from what you'd been through, and that you had given up. That is far different from standing by and allowing you to do this. I have responsibilities to every member of my team, which includes Nicole. I didn't think I had to say that to the two of you."

"You don't, trust me. But every person on this team is strong enough to come to terms with this. And with all that you know about the twins, if doing this would hurt Nicole in a way that she would never recover from, do you honestly think Claudette would ever have agreed to help me?"

Illyana glanced at Claudette, who was carefully rearranging the couch cushions around Nicole so that she was less likely to roll off of the couch. "I suppose you have a point. But you're still asking me to allow this, and I'm not sure I can."

"You don't have to take my word for it," Penny offered. "I invite you to watch."

"You want me to watch Claudette kill you?"

"I want you to watch Claudette free me. I will be dead at the end, but that's hardly the important part."

"It will be to Nicole," Illyana pointed out.

Penny smiled. "It won't, believe me. Or at least believe I would never attempt to trick a person that I owe my life to."

"I'm getting mixed signals, seeing as how you want to end the life I just gave back to you."

"This isn't an end to life. It's a new beginning for my family, and this is the only way I can give it to them. I need you to watch, Illyana, so that you'll understand and be able to tell the others what happened. Besides, as strong as I know Claudette is, I don't want her to be alone in this. She's a member of your team, too."

Claudette walked over and slipped her hand into Penny's. With no hesitation, she extended her free hand to Illyana.

Illyana was faced with an impossible choice: to remain behind while Claudette helped Penny end her life, or to assist them. In the end, she decided the greater sin was to allow Claudette to face this alone. Nicole would certainly never forgive that. And at least this way, Claudette would not be solely responsible for Penny's death, increasing the chances that Nicole would eventually forgive her.

The instant their hands touched, Illyana received a brief image of the spot in the woods where she'd experimented with the Soulsword. Curling her fingers around Claudette's, Illyana opened a portal to their destination, and with a quick nod to both Claudette and Penny, they stepped through together.

* * *

Doug had officially seen enough sunflowers to last him the rest of his life in the first two minutes. He was sure Claudette just happened to adore sunflowers and hadn't done this to be cruel, but he wished she'd put some more thought into the dream she'd designed for him.

Suddenly, a warm hand touched his from behind, and Doug turned to find two children staring up at him. His immediate impression was that they were childhood versions of Marius and Monet: all the familiar St. Croix features were there. But he quickly amended that thought: these children were twins, though their eyes were so much like Monet's that it was a simple mistake.

The boy twin reached for Doug's hand again, and Doug let him have it, earning a bright smile that shook him to his core.

Their eyes weren't like Monet's at all. It had been the smile that showed him the truth. Their eyes were both, unmistakably, exact copies of Penny's. Not as if they were merely closely related, but as if she had given birth to them.

The twins joined hands, and as they did so, all the sunflowers seemed to melt together, swirling around the three of them in a gold and dark brown blur. The girl dipped her fingers into the blur, instantly drawing out the dark brown and allowing it to surround her body like a sash, while the boy did the same with the gold.

Doug wanted more than anything to escape the dream and warn the others. Not that Penny was going off to die, but that she had to be allowed to do so, because it was the only way. But the boy would not let go of his hand, and Doug found the desire to leave quickly fading, and then gone entirely. The only thing left in his mind was the desire to ask for their names, and he gave into it eagerly.

* * *

**Continued in Chapter 7: Penny's Legacy**

Penny's final act leaves the team with a new responsibility, and changes Illyana's ideas on what it means to be a family.

* * *

Endnotes:

I will tentatively say (yet again) that the story has two more chapters left. Depends on several factors. And how much story I actually decide on telling.


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